A Thousand Years
by criminalmindsfan29
Summary: Derek misses Emily. When he goes to London to try to convince her to come back to the BAU, their relationship takes a totally different and unexpected turn. How does this affect their work? What will happen when Emily gets caught in a case that may change everything?
1. Chapter 1- She's Fired and Missed

_At the BAU in Quantico_

Derek looked up from his desk when someone put their hand on his shoulder. "Hey, baby girl," he said, seeing Garcia.

"Hey." She said. Derek could sense something was wrong.

"Hey, Mama. I can tell something's wrong. What's gotcha?" he said, a smile hiding his worry.

"I… might miss Emily. A lot." She let go of a deep breath.

"Listen, Penelope, aren't you going to see her sometime? Like in a couple weeks? That's not that long, goddess." He smirked.

"No, it's not- I mean, yeah, but I miss her being on the team. I miss her being here. Like, it's not the same without her. I miss her. Don't you, Derek?" she said, sighing.

"Yeah, sweetness. I do." He patted her on the back, hiding his sadness. "Listen, I gotta head home." He said. It was ten o'clock at night and he was still at the BAU, doing some paperwork.

"Okay, have fun, tiger. I should go too." She smiled.

"There's the Penelope I know." He smiled back at her.

"See ya," she said.

Derek waved at her as he walked into the elevator, a frown beginning to form on his lips.

_At Emily Prentiss's apartment in London_

Emily sat down at her desk, sighing. _Interpol is just work. It's not like a family, like the… oh come on, Emily. Don't think about the people you miss. You'll just miss them more. _

A knock at her door made her jump. She got up and looked through the peephole. It was Clyde Easter. She opened the door and said, "Hey, Clyde."

"Emily. We need to talk." He said, walking into her apartment.

"Come in," she said sarcastically and closed the door.

"It's about your work. You've... I don't know how to say it, but you've… slipped. You're slipping." He frowned.

"I'm sorry?" she said, stunned.

"You need to pick it up, Em, or you won't be able to keep this job. I'm sorry. Pick it up." He started to walk towards the door. "Good night."

"Wait, Clyde!" she said, raising her voice. "What did I do?"

"Don't raise your voice at me." He said sternly.

"Well don't 'Em' me!" she said, her voice raising even more.

"Do you want to get fired?" He said, angry.

"No. No, I don't." she said, looking at her feet.

"Well it's too late. You're fired." He said, opening the door.

"What?!" She shrieked. "You can't do this, Easter!"

"Yes," he said, stepping out into the hallway. "I can."

Then he left, closing the door behind him.

Emily stood in her apartment, a tear slipping down her cheek.

_Derek Morgan's apartment_

Derek sat on his couch, staring at a picture of Emily. He could almost hear her voice, feel her touch… but he shook his head. He wouldn't be able to see her. For a while, anyways.

A knock on his door startled him. He wasn't expecting anyone this late at night. He got up, walking towards the door. He looked through the peephole. It was Reid. He opened the door.

"Hey, pretty boy," he said.

"Hi." He said.

It had been a month since Maeve, Reid's girlfriend, died. Spencer was still very upset, but he had returned to work a couple weeks earlier and was getting better.

"How are you?" Derek asked his friend.

"I'm getting way better. Thanks to you guys." He smiled.

Derek smiled. "So what's up at this _late _hour?"

"I think we need to talk about something." He said.

"Like what? Her?" he asked, not saying Maeve's name.

"No, this has nothing to do with Maeve." He winced a little when he said her name. "It's about you."

"Like what about me?" Derek laughed a little to hide his confusion.

"You miss her."

"Huh? Who?"

"Don't pretend, Derek. The whole team can tell."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Emily, Derek. Emily. That's who. Emily."


	2. Chapter 2- Plane Ticket and Phone Call

"Are you crazy, kid?" he said, denying that he did miss her.

"Morgan, I could be crazy, but we all can tell. You miss her."

Morgan sighed. "You're right. I do miss her. Huh. How did you guys figure it out?"

"Morgan, it's obvious. Every time you pass the wall with everyone's pictures on it, you look at where Emily's was. The exact spot. Every day, you stare at something on your phone, which-"

"Listen, Reid. I know you wanna help me, but there's nothing to be helped." He said.

"If you see her, it'll help." Reid said.

"I guess that's true." Morgan sighed.

"Here. We got you these." Reid said quickly said and handed Derek a plane ticket.

"What's… this…?" He asked, shocked.

"A plane ticket. To London." Reid said.

"You're kidding. All of you guys got this for me?" Morgan was smiling.

"Yep. Now go get her." Reid joked.

"Oh no, it's not like that…" Morgan said, laughing.

"What do you mean?" Reid asked, confused.

"Well, you only say that to- wait. Did Garcia tell you what to say?" Morgan said, suspicious.

"Uh… no. Listen, I gotta go…" he trailed off, walking to the door.

But Morgan beat him to it. "Eh eh eh," he opened the door and he saw Garcia standing there.

"Hey, my sweet, I can explain…" she said, shock and surprise on her face.

"It's okay. I just wanted to say thank you. And make sure you say that to the rest of the team."

"I sure will, gorgeous."

"Wait, so did Hotch okay this? Do I-"

"Get time off? Sure you do, angel fish."

"Wow. I can't believe _Hotch _let me take time off just to visit Em. I mean, Prent-"

"Sugar," she said. "Just start packing. You leave in two days." Garcia said with a smile on her face.

"_Two days?_" He asked, surprised. "Thanks for the heads up!" he said sarcastically.

"Sorry," Garcia smiled guiltily.

"Ha ha, it's okay, crazy girl," Derek said, laughing.

_Emily Prentiss's apartment in London_

Emily sat on the couch, crying. _My life, my job, everything, I just lost it. Because I yelled at my boss. _She sighed. _Maybe I should go back to Quantico. _

Just then, her cat, Sergio, meowed and hopped on her lap. "Hey, Serge."

The cat meowed and rubbed his face on her arm. Emily pet him, then stood up and set him down on the floor. She was about to head to the bathroom when the phone rang. She picked it up and looked at the caller ID. It said, REID SPENCER. She picked it up and said, "Hey, Reid?"

"Hi Emily," Spencer said.

"I haven't talked to you in so long! How've you been?" she asked, cheering up a little.

"Um, not very good." He said.

"What do you mean? Wait, what happened? Is it… is it someone from the team? Is something wrong?" she asked, holding her breath.

"No, everyone from the team is fine. I just… you know that… girl I told you about?" he said, instantly regretting mentioning her.

"Wait… that girl that you talked to the phone with?" Emily said.

"Yeah. Maeve." He said, feeling tears come to his eyes.

"Are you guys dating? Aw, that's awesome, Reid!" but then she realized he wasn't replying. "Wait… did you… break up?"

"No." he said.

Emily's heart dropped. She was the one with the stalker, right? "Reid… the stalker…"

"Is dead." He said quietly.

"And Maeve? Is she…okay?" Emily bit her lip.

"No, Emily. She's not."

"She's not… is she?"

"Yeah. She is. She's dead."


	3. Chapter 3- Fight and Departure

"Oh my god, Reid. I'm so sorry. What can I do?" she said, heartbroken for her friend.

"Thanks, but, I'm fine. It's been a month. But I need you to keep this a secret." Reid said.

"That she's gone?" Emily asked, confused.

"No, that… I told you about her before anyone else. You were the first one to know anything at all about her." He said.

Emily was taken aback. "Seriously? Reid, you know I can keep this a secret."

"I know. Thanks for being a great friend. Remember, no mention of this _at all._"

"No mention of what?" the obvious voice of Derek Morgan was heard behind Reid.

Reid dropped the phone, startled. "Morgan! How'd you get in here?"

"You forgot that I had a spare key, just in case you needed anything. Remember? You gave it to me after you came back to work." He smiled.

"Yeah, I remember." He said.

"So, who are you talking to?" Derek asked.

"Uh, Em- I mean, well, a friend." Reid stuttered.

"Emily?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah." Reid said, hoping Derek wouldn't ask about the 'no mention' thing. But to his dismay, Derek asked.

"So what is Em not supposed to mention?" The profiler said with a small grin on his face.

"Oh, just, nothing." Reid lied.

"Nothing?" he laughed, but then became serious. "Listen, Reid, I heard what you said before. Were you talking about... Maeve?"

Reid looked down at the floor. He had to tell Morgan. There was no getting out of this.

"Maybe." Reid said, still looking at the ground.

Morgan looked shocked. "So… you told Emily about Maeve before we even suspected anything?"

"It was right before she left. Literally. The day before we got the giant bank robbery case, Emily's last case, I told her that there was a girl I was talking to on the phone with and that she had a stalker. I also told her that her name was Maeve and that we'd never met. I'm sorry."

"Why didn't you tell any of us?" Morgan asked, a little hurt.

"Because I didn't want you to make fun of me." Reid blurted out.

"Make fun of you? Reid, we would never do that!" he said, his voice getting a little louder.

"Like when I liked Lila Archer and I told you about her? You said, 'Play on, playa' and just made jokes out of the whole thing. That's why I never contacted her again. Because I was afraid that you would make more jokes." Reid said, angry.

"Look, I'm sorry, man! I didn't know that was hurting you! I won't ever make jokes about you again. Okay?" Derek said, calming down a little.

"Why do you even have a key to my house? Why did you come here? Give me the key." Reid demanded.

Morgan was shocked. He'd never seen Reid so angry before. He handed him the key and left, rolling his eyes.

"Reid? Hey, Reid, are you still there?" Emily had heard the whole fight. "Reid?"

Spencer heard her voice, but took the phone and hung up. Then he unplugged it so he wouldn't have to listen to it ring.

He hated the sound of a phone ringing now. It reminded him of Maeve. And especially when the stalker had called him and said, 'Zugzwang'. He wished he could just zone out from the world until he felt better.

_The airport, before Morgan's departure to London_

"Hey, Derek. Give Em some love for me, will ya?" Garcia said.

"Derek? No 'tiger' or 'sugar'?" he chuckled.

"Sorry, my sweet. But please. Some love." She smiled.

"Of course, baby girl." He said.

"Hey Morgan, can you tell her I said hi? I really miss her." JJ said, smiling.

"Sure, JJ. Anything." He said.

"Tell her I say hello." Rossi said with a smile.

"Take some pictures too!" Garcia said.

"Alright, guys, I should get going. My flight leaves in twenty minutes." He said.

"Wait… where's Spence?" JJ asked. "Shouldn't he be here?"

Morgan's gaze went to the ground.

"Angel? What's wrong?" Garcia asked.

"Reid and I got in a little fight last night." He said.

"A fight? Reid doesn't get in fights!" Garcia said, surprised.

"He'll be fine." Hotch interrupted. No one really noticed he was there since he was since he was so quiet, until then.

"Yeah, I'm sure he's okay." Morgan said. "Well, I gotta go. See you all when I get back."

"Have fun," Rossi said.

"Love ya!" Garcia said.

"Bye, Derek." JJ said.

Everyone started to walk back to their cars except Hotch. "Hey, Morgan."

"Yeah, Hotch?"

"Tell her I said hi." He said, a small smile on his face.

"I will, Hotch."

He nodded, then walked away.


	4. Chapter 4- Arrival

_Derek Morgan's Plane to London_

Derek sat listening to his music, trying to sleep. He couldn't stop thinking about his fight with Reid. He felt bad, because Reid was like a brother to him. He waved over the female flight attendant and asked for some water and eszopiclone (sleeping pills).

_Emily Prentiss's apartment in London_

Emily paced back and forth in her apartment, wondering what she should do. She just lost her job, and since it was London, it would be difficult to find another job. She considered the impossible. _Would Hotch and Strauss let me back on the BAU? _She shook her head and smirked at the idea. _No, never. I left. It was my choice. It's too late now. _

_London Heathrow Airport_

Derek stepped off the plane then went to go get his luggage. His phone vibrated, signaling a text from Garcia. It said:

_Hey, I don't know when you will get this but I wanted you to know that something's wrong with Reid. He's all sad-like, and his apartment is messy again. JJ and I are here with him now and hopefully he'll be okay. Don't worry about it. Send Em lots of love! Love ya –Your Baby Girl_

He sighed, reading the text again and shaking his head in disbelief. _Could Reid really be depressed again? Wait, I gotta focus. Actually, I need to not focus. Just… concentrate on seeing Emily. _

_Emily Prentiss's Apartment_

Emily, still pacing, noticed that it was one am in the morning. She took a deep breath, then went to the kitchen to have a small midnight snack. But a knock on the door stopped her. Who would come this late at night? She suddenly was full of fear, wondering if it was someone coming to kill her. She shook off the thought and went to look through the peephole. When she looked through the hole, she gasped at what she saw. It was Derek Morgan.

_Reid's Apartment_

"Spence?" JJ asked, knocking on his door. "You there?"

There was no response.

"Spence. Look, I know you're in there. Morgan is sorry, he feels bad about the fight too. It would be better if you came out." JJ said.

Finally, the door opened. But it wasn't who JJ was expecting. It was Garcia.

"Garcia? What are you doing here?" JJ asked, confused.

"Reid let me in… he doesn't want anyone else, but I couldn't just ignore you."

"He doesn't want me in there? Me? What did I do for him to…?"

"Jayje. Something's up with him. I can't tell what it is, but it's bad. It's either he's upset about the fight with Derek, or it's… Maeve. Again." Garcia said, upset.

"Should I… leave?" JJ asked.

Garcia sighed. "I… I don't know. I think that would… be best."

JJ was hurt, and Garcia saw it in her eyes. "JJ, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"I know. It's okay. I should get home to Henry, anyways…" JJ said, hiding her pain. "Bye!" she smiled a little.

"Jayje… bye." She said, also hurt. She didn't like to see her friends in pain.

_Emily Prentiss's Apartment_

Emily opened the door, still in shock. "Derek!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I… I, uh, missed you." He said, smiling because he was so happy to see Emily.

Emily stepped forward and hugged him. "I missed you too," she smiled. "Why did you come?" she asked pulling softly away.

"There's something we need to talk about." He said, his face now serious.

"Yeah, I need tell you something too." She said, also serious now.

"You go first." He said.

"No, you go ahead. I'm sure your news is good. Mine's bad." She said.

"It's not really news." He said.

"Huh. Well, go ahead. First, come inside!" she said as he walked in, closing the door behind him.

"Thanks," he smiled slightly at her.

"So," she said, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Emily," he said, taking a deep breath. "I want you to come back. To the BAU."


	5. Chapter 5- Feelings

"The… the BAU?" Emily said, shocked.

"Yeah. Look, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so… quick to mention that." Derek said.

"No, it's fine. I wanted to tell you something. About Interpol." She said.

"Did you get promoted? That's awesome, Em!" he said.

"No, I didn't get promoted. I got… fired." She said quietly.

"What?" Derek said, astonished.

"Yeah." She said, ashamed.

"I…how?" he asked quietly.

She sighed. "I think it's because… I missed you guys so much, so I guess I was slipping. I didn't concentrate on my work, and Clyde saw I was slipping. And you can't slip in Interpol. But I did."

"Wait, _Easter _fired you?" Morgan asked, stunned.

"Yeah." She sighed.

"Man, Emily, I'm sorry…" he said.

"No, it's fine. So what were you talking about, about coming back to the BAU?"

_Spencer Reid's Apartment_

"Listen, Reid, we all love you. And sitting here in your dark apartment isn't going to make you feel better. I'm sorry, but you need to get up and-"Garcia started.

"Garcia, please, just stop. You know I don't want to listen to this. Please leave." He said.

Garcia was heartbroken for her friend. "Reid, I'm sorry, just please…"

"Bye," he said, opening his front door for her.

She left, a tear in her eye. "We love you, Reid. We'll always be there-"she started, but couldn't finish because Reid shut the door behind her.

_London Heathrow Airport_

"So… you're sure about this? Hotch said he'll consider me coming back?" Emily asked, stoked at the fact that she might be returning to the BAU.

"Yeah, and he said he can convince Strauss too. Hopefully." He grinned.

"So, if this works, you'll come back with me to get all my stuff, right? You'll help me move?" Emily asked her friend.

Derek chuckled. "Of course," he said, "If it means you coming back!"

Emily smiled for the first time in a while. Interpol didn't make her smile, like the BAU family did.

_Airplane to Quantico_

"Tickets, please?" the flight attendant asked. Emily and Derek handed the woman their tickets, and the woman said, "First class. Your seats are over there." She pointed at two seats next to each other.

"First class?" Emily asked, surprised.

Derek smiled. "Garcia and the rest of the team bought them for me."

"They bought a ticket for me, too? How did they know that I'd come back? What if I didn't?" she laughed, smiling.

"We knew, Emily. There was no way you would pass up this opportunity. Garcia somehow knew that you missed us all and that you'd wanna come back!" he smiled.

"She called me." Emily said suddenly.

"What?" Derek was confused.

"She called me a couple days ago. She said that if I got the opportunity, would I come back? I said definitely. I told her that I got fired, and everything…" her eyes teared up a little.

"You talked to her before I came? You knew I was coming?" he asked.

"Yeah. Look, I'm sorry, if you want to talk about this…" she started.

"No, Emily, it's fine. I'm not mad!" he chuckled.

"Phew," she let go of a deep breath, "That's good."

"I would never be mad at you." He said, looking into her eyes.

"What… what do you mean?" she asked, seeing his gaze.

He shook his head, his eyes falling. "I won't get mad at you! You're like family. That's what I mean." He said.

She smiled. "Hey, uh, Morgan, you mean that?" she said. Suddenly she returned that gaze Morgan had broken.

He looked back into her eyes. "Yeah, I… I did…"

Emily felt butterflies in her stomach. _Does he feel the same about me as I feel about him? _

Derek felt like her could see into her heart, and he felt his heart skip a beat. _I hope someday I can tell her how I really feel about her. _


	6. Chapter 6- Missing

When Emily and Derek reached the airport, Garcia, JJ and Rossi were waiting for them. Garcia was very excited to see Emily, and so were JJ and Rossi. The only thing that was making JJ sad was that Spence wasn't there to greet Emily, just because of Derek and his fight.

"Hey, Jayje, you okay?" Garcia asked, concerned for her friend.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just a little upset that Spence isn't here." She sighed.

Rossi frowned, then pulled his phone out of his pocket as it went off, signaling a text. His mouth dropped open a little bit when he read the text.

"What is it?" Garcia instantly knew something was wrong.

"It's Alex… she's missing." He said.

JJ gasped. "Oh my god,"

Garcia bit her lip as she said, "She's fine, right? Just missing. I mean, she probably just went somewhere and is a little late, right?" she started pacing back and forth.

"Hotch called her about fifteen times in the past hour," Rossi said, receiving another text. "They checked her house, and every other place she could be. There's no sign of her. No one has seen her." He said, sighing.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay." JJ said, comforting Garcia.

Just then, Emily and Derek walked up, carrying their luggage.

"Emily!" JJ and Garcia said at the same time.

"Hey, guys!" she smiled and hugged them both.

"Hi, Emily." Rossi said, a smile hiding his worry about Blake.

"Wait… what's wrong?" Derek unintentionally profiled the three and noticed something was up.

"Nothing," Garcia lied. "Remember the 'no profiling each other' thing?"

"I'm sorry, but it doesn't take a profiler to notice something is not right here." Emily said.

"You were a profiler before, Em! I'm sure you still have those skills." Garcia said.

"That's true, but still. What's going on?" she asked.

"It's Blake. She's missing." JJ said, looking down.

Derek closed his eyes and Emily was confused.

"Who's Blake?" she asked.

"She was your replacement when you left. She's a veteran FBI agent." Rossi said.

"She helped solve the Unabomber case, right? I've heard of her. It's… Alex, Alex Blake, right?" Emily asked.

"How is it you know so much about so many cases?" Rossi asked her.

"I read about a lot before I joined the BAU. I really wanted to impress you guys, I guess." She smirked at the thought, but then remembered the situation.

"So, I say we go back to the headquarters and figure out if she's really missing." Derek said.

Everyone agreed, so they headed back to the BAU.

_FBI Headquarters in Quantico, VA_

Hotch was waiting for the rest of the team in the round table room when Strauss walked in.

"What is going on here?" she asked.

"Blake is missing." He said.

"Blake?"

"Yes, Alex Blake."

"Didn't I tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Hotch asked, frowning.

"We're rehiring Emily Prentiss. Alex Blake is no longer a member of the BAU." She said.

Hotch was shocked. "You can't just… do that."

"Yes, I can. She still works for the Bureau, but she will not be on your team." She said, starting to walk out.

"Where is she, then?" he asked.

"She already transferred. She's gone." She said.

"You didn't let her say goodbye to anyone, that isn't fair." He said.

"Since when did you care about other people's feelings?" she asked.

"Strauss, it's not your job to monitor my feelings. Maybe these people are my friends."

"Do not raise your voice at me, Aaron." She said, then walked out.

Everyone walked in just then.

"What was that about?" Derek asked.

"Everyone should sit down." He said.

Everyone sat down around the table, worried.

"As you all know, Alex Blake is apparently missing. But Strauss told me something that contradicted that."

"What happened?" Garcia whispered.

"Alex Blake has been transferred to another team. She is no longer in this team." He said.

"What? Did she decide this?" JJ asked, shocked, as the rest of the team was.

"No. It was Strauss's decision."

"Wait… guys, where's Reid?" Emily asked.

Everyone looked around, then shook their heads. Morgan sighed, and walked out of the room.


	7. Chapter 7- Elevator

"Is he okay?" Emily asked, concerned for Morgan.

"Yeah, he and Reid got in a little fight, so they're both upset." JJ answered.

"I know about the fight, but he seems like he's hiding something else. Like, something good." Emily said.

"Something good? And why would he hide something good from us?" Garcia asked.

"Is someone going to go after him?" Rossi asked.

"I will," Emily said, getting up to go stop Morgan.

"Something has changed between the two of them." JJ said after Emily was out the door.

"Morgan!" Emily yelled after Derek as he was getting in the elevator.

He turned around to see her, but then turned back and walked to the elevator quicker.

"Derek, stop!" she said.

Morgan tried to get the elevator to go down quicker once he was inside it, but Emily stopped the doors and got inside before they closed.

"Emily, please, just go back. I'm fine." Morgan said, trying to get her to leave him alone.

"Morgan, what are you doing?" Emily asked him.

He sighed. "We need to talk."

"Well, duh."

"I have to tell you something." He said, looking into her eyes.

"Yeah, me too…" she said, returning his gaze.

They felt an instant connection and their lips moved towards each other, the bond they felt becoming stronger and stronger.

When their lips touched, they both felt their hearts beat a little stronger. Suddenly, their arms were around each other and they couldn't break apart. It was at this moment when Emily felt that nothing could ruin this moment, and Derek wished this could last forever.

They broke apart quickly when the doors of the elevator opened, signaling that they were on the first floor.

Emily's mouth dropped open when she noticed someone was standing outside of the doors.

"Reid?" Morgan said.

"Hi, Morgan. Hey, Emily." He looked at Morgan, then smiled at Emily.

"Hey, Reid, can we talk about this? I wanted to say that I am so, so sorry, man." Morgan said, hoping Reid would forgive him.

"It's okay. I'm not mad anymore." Spencer said.

"Really?" Derek asked, surprised.

"Yeah." Reid said.

"So… we're good."

"Yeah." Reid even smiled a little.

Then, it was silent for a while.

"So, Reid, how are you?" Emily asked, breaking the silence.

"I've been alright, what about you?" his lips forming a little smile.

"Um, well, good, besides being fired from Interpol." She frowned. "But I am really good now, thanks to a certain person." She grinned, looking at Morgan, who was just thinking about how beautiful she was.

"I saw you guys." Reid blurted out.

"What? Saw what?" Emily asked, biting her nails.

"You guys were… kissing," he said.

"Reid, you didn't see nothin." Morgan said, hoping Reid could keep a secret.

"Hey, Reid, can you promise not to tell anyone?" Emily asked, her heart pounding.

"Yeah, but why would you not want to tell anyone? There's nothing wrong with…" he stopped talking when he saw the serious and pleading looks on their faces. "I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks, Reid." She smiled with relief.

"As long as you don't tell anyone about the telling you first thing," he said, glancing at Morgan for a second, whose face was normal.

"Of course," she said awkwardly.

"Thanks," he said. "I'll leave you too alone."

"Naw, Reid, that ain't…never mind…" he said, looking at Emily.

Reid smiled and as he stepped in the elevator and Emily and Derek stepped out. He pressed the button to go to the BAU floor, then looked at his feet until the doors closed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Derek asked, referring to the kiss.

"Yeah. I think we should." Emily nodded.

"How about Friday, after work." He asked.

"Derek Morgan, are you asking me out on a date?" she grinned.

"I am. Emily Prentiss, will you go on a date with me Friday night?" he smiled.

"I sure will," she laughed.

"See ya then!" Derek said as he walked away, smiling.


	8. Chapter 8- Getting Ready

_The Next Day, BAU in Quantico, VA_

Emily smiled as she walked up to the rest of her team, carrying her FBI badge and her gun.

"I can't believe you're actually back," Garcia smiled at her friend.

"Me neither!" Emily said, looking at everyone.

Everyone was still shocked about Blake leaving, but they were beginning to be happier, since Emily was back.

"I say we celebrate that Em is back, and then maybe we can get our minds off of… you know." JJ said, biting her lip.

"It's okay, JJ. You can say her name. We'll be fine." Garcia said.

"So, everyone free Friday night? After work? I mean, if we're back." JJ asked.

Emily and Derek looked at each other, wondering what to do.

"I can't," Emily and Derek said at the same exact time.

"Wow, huh, Derek, you can't come either? Sorry guys, I'm busy that night… I have to… uh, spend some time with Sergio." She lied.

The team exchanged suspicious glances.

"Yeah, I have to go to the gym… and work out." Morgan said, saying the first thing that popped in his head.

"Well, maybe we'll do it some other time. Saturday?" JJ asked.

"I have a date with Beth. I can't." Hotch said.

"I thought you knew that Saturdays are my writing days," Rossi said, half joking.

"I can come," Reid said.

"So can I… man, we really have to schedule these things way in advance. Seriously." Emily said, laughing a little.

"Yeah, man. I don't do anything on Saturdays. We should think about next week." Morgan said.

"Well, I should get going. Jack is waiting for me at home, so… see you guys tomorrow." Hotch said, turning around and leaving.

"Yeah, Henry has a cold, so I should go." JJ said, also leaving.

Everyone but Emily and Derek left, leaving them alone.

"So…" Derek said, "It's Wednesday. I can't wait until Friday." He said.

"Yeah, me too. That was hard, making up excuses for why we couldn't come." Emily smiled.

"Uh huh. But… I think they might be a little on to us." He frowned.

"It's okay," Emily said.

"I know," Derek replied, look deep into her eyes.

"You always look so far into my eyes…" she said, staring back. "It's like you see something deep inside me."

"I see a girl that is amazing and talented. Someone I wanna be around." He said searching through her eyes and looking at the different colors.

"Hey, um, people are looking at us…" she said, "We should look normal."

He broke the gaze and looked at her normally. Emily laughed, saying, "See ya tomorrow!"

Derek nodded, and began to head home.

_Friday Morning_

Emily woke up to the sound of the alarm on her phone going off. She realized it was six thirty, so she got up and went to take a shower. When she got out, she went to the kitchen to eat some breakfast, which this morning was cheerios.

She walked back to her bathroom and started to do her makeup. She was trying to do it perfectly, so that it would look good for Morgan. Suddenly, she stopped to think about Morgan.

_Is this real?_ She thought, thinking of Derek's face. _How did this happen? How did I fall in love with a coworker? _She asked herself. She didn't mind being in love with Derek, though, because she felt like she was perfect when she was with him.

She dried her hair, then decided she wanted to curl it, like she did a couple years ago and when she was at JJ's wedding. When she was done, she saw that it was almost time to leave for work. She quickly went to her closet and found a dress to wear for her date with Derek. It was a dark red dress that went a couple inches up past her knees and had thick straps. She smiled in approval at it, then got a small duffle bag. She put the dress in it, then grabbed some black heels to go with it. She also put some makeup in the bag, if she needed it. She grabbed the bag and headed to work.

"Hey, Em, you ready for tonight?" Derek asked quietly when she walked out of the elevator.

"How did you know I was gonna get out of the elevator?" she asked.

"I guessed. You usually get here around this time, so…" he trailed off.

"You keep track of when I get here?" she asked, her heart warming up a little bit.

"Yeah, sorry, I know that's a little creepy." He bit his lip.

"No, that's… cool." She smiled.

"So, are you ready for tonight?" he asked again.

"Yeah, I am. Where are we going?" she asked.

"There's this place called Charlie's. Its Italian food, I hope you like it… do you?" he asked.

"Yeah, definitely. So… are we gonna drive there together? Or… just drive separately, so it doesn't look like we're doing anything."

"I guess we can drive separate. There's no reason to leave your car here, anyways… is there?" he laughed.

"No, there's not." She smiled.

"I'm excited," he said.

"Excited for what?" Garcia came up behind them and was confused.

"Uhm, for work, today…" Derek said.

"Well, that's a first!" Garcia said, believing him.

"It is. Well, good morning." He said to her.

"I'll show you a good morning." She said, walking away to go to her office.

"Does she always say that?" Emily asked, laughing.

"Always."


	9. Chapter 9- Date Night

As the minutes ticked down until Emily got out of work, her heart beat faster and faster. Luckily, they hadn't gotten any new cases, so they could still go on their date. Emily kept glancing at the clock, wanting the time to go by faster. She looked at Morgan a few times, who just smiled and winked, then went back to his paperwork.

Finally, work was over for the day and Emily went over to Derek's desk.

"How do I get to Charlie's?" she asked.

Morgan handed her a folded piece of paper. "It's a map."

Emily smiled. "Thanks," she said, "I'm going to get ready, so I might be a little late. I'll see you there."

"Okay." He smiled.

Emily walked to the elevator after she grabbed her bag. She looked at the map and decided that she could change at home, since the restaurant wasn't far from her place.

When she got home, she unlocked her door and hurried to her bathroom. After she changed into her dress, she re-did her makeup and tried to make it perfect. She put on the heels and headed to get a taxi.

After Derek sat down at the reserved table for Emily and him, he started to think a little. He saw Emily's face in his mind, and smiled as he knew he would see her soon. He couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful she was, and why he never noticed it before.

"Right this way," he heard a hostess say.

He looked up and almost let his mouth drop open when he saw Emily. Derek felt like he could hold on to her and never let go if he had the chance. He adjusted his tie and stood up.

"Hey," she said, smiling.

"Hi," he said.

"You look very… handsome." She said, her heart beginning to beat faster.

"You look beautiful." Derek said.

"I… uh… thanks," she said, feeling herself blush.

"Come sit down," he said, gesturing towards the table, then sitting down himself.

"So, this is a nice restaurant. This is great." She smiled.

"Yeah, the reservations were a bit pricey, but it's worth it." He smiled back.

"Oh, Derek, how much was it? Let me pay half," Emily said, reaching for her purse.

"No, Em, you don't have to." He stopped her.

"Are you sure?" she asked him.

"Yeah, Em. You don't need to pay. Anyways, we should look at the menu so we can order." He pointed to a menu.

After looking through the menus for a couple minutes, Emily and Derek decided what they wanted. A waitress came over and took their orders, and also got them some wine to drink.

When they were eating, Derek had to tell Emily something.

"Emily," he said, "I need to tell you something."

"Yeah?" she asked.

Derek took a deep breath, then went out with it. "Whenever I'm around you, my heart starts beating faster, and I feel like I want to be with you forever. I don't know if you feel the same way, but I really hope you do."

Emily smiled and said, "Derek. That's exactly how I feel when I'm with you!" she reached over and grabbed his hand.

"Do you… wanna come to my place? Maybe we can… watch a movie and have dessert?" he asked her.

"I would love to!" she smiled.

They headed to his car, since he had brought his, and headed to his house. When they arrived, Emily took her heels off and sat down on the couch. Derek came and sat next to her, after taking off his suit jacket.

"What movie do you wanna watch?" he said.

"I'm not sure if I wanna watch a movie…" she said, looking in his eyes, making that glance that had started their feelings.

Derek returned the look, moving closer to Emily. Their lips were like magnets, they were moving towards each other, and nothing could pull them apart. The two could not stop kissing, but they didn't want to stop, anyways.

Emily stood up and pulled Derek towards his bedroom. "Come on," she said.

Derek followed her, and before he knew it, they were making out on his bed. He felt the urge to start undressing Emily, but he didn't know if she wanted to go there. But soon enough, Emily made the first move, and started to take his clothes off, while they were still kissing.

"Emily, are you sure you want to…" he started, but she look at him and just nodded, smiling.

They began to undress each other, and things kept progressing until they became tired and fell asleep.


	10. Chapter 10- We Have To Tell Them

Emily woke up, confused. Her head was throbbing, and she was in a place she didn't recognize. And worst of all, she was naked. She turned to see who was next to her in the bed, and sighed in relief when she saw Derek. She was also worried, fearing what he would say when he saw her naked in his bed. She spotted her dress on the floor, and was quick to grab it and put it on. She silently crept to the door, trying not to wake Derek.

"Emily…" she heard him say very quietly. "Stop…"

She stopped, and turned around. "Are you mad?" she asked.

"For last night? Hell no. That was the greatest night of my life." He smiled as he sat up.

"We were drunk, Derek. From wine. And we didn't even notice it." She said.

"You didn't enjoy it, at all?" he asked.

"I did really enjoy it, but there is no way to hide this from the team." She said, walking back towards the bed.

"Sure, there is. It can't be that hard." He reassured her.

"I hope so," she smiled a little.

"Listen, I'll give you a ride back to your place." Derek said, reaching down towards the ground and grabbing his pants.

"Thanks, but you don't have to do that." She, looking down at the ground as Morgan put his pants on.

"I know, Em, but I'm going to." He said.

"Thanks," she said. "Do you have a horrible headache too?"

He laughed. "Yeah. The best way to deal with them is lots of water and ibuprofen. It helps."

"Alright," she said.

"So you wanna go home now?" Derek asked.

"Yeah, if you don't mind driving now. But I could totally take a taxi, if you don't want to."

"No, its fine, I can deal with the headache." He smiled.

Emily put her shoes on, then grabbed her purse. Derek led her to his car, then drove her to her apartment.

"Hey, thanks for the ride," she said as she got out of the car.

"Anytime, Em." He smiled as she waved and walked up to the door.

Emily opened the door to her apartment, unlocked it, and then went inside. She walked slowly to her bedroom, then changed into some sweat pants and a loose long sleeve shirt. She went into the kitchen and got a big glass of room temp water, then grabbed four ibuprofen and took each one. She trudged into the living room and lay down on the couch. She sat thinking about Derek and the team until she fell asleep.

On Monday morning, Emily walked into the BAU with worry. What if she and Derek couldn't keep their secret? What if Reid told them about the kiss?

"Hey, Emily, can I talk to you?" Emily heard Reid come up behind her.

She turned around, and nodded. "Sure. Anything."

"Are you and Derek… you know, dating? Without telling the team?" he asked quietly.

"Um, no… we just kissed and that's all." Emily said.

"And went on a date Friday night." Reid said.

"What? Who told you that?" she said, shocked.

"I figured it out. When you and Morgan said you couldn't go to the dinner at the same exact time, I knew you were doing something together. I didn't know if it was a date or not, I just guessed… and I guess it was a date." Reid said.

"Don't tell anyone, Reid." Emily said.

"I won't!" he said.

"Thanks." She smiled a little at him.

He nodded, then continued to walk to his desk.

"Hey, Princess." Emily felt Derek put his hand on her shoulder.

"Since when did you call me that?" she smiled, but took his hand off.

"I used to call you that all the time," he said. "But then I just stopped after you… died."

She laughed. "That always creeps me out when people say that."

"Emily, we need to tell them." Derek looking at her seriously.

"No. We can't. It'll be too awkward." She shook her head.

"Well, we'll have to tell them that we're dating eventually."

"Wait… you want me to be your girlfriend?"

"Yeah, I guess I was kinda asking." He smiled.

"Well I say yes…" she smiled.


	11. Chapter 11- We're Your Family

Spencer was leaving the bathroom when Derek walked in.

"Reid!" Derek said, startled.

"Morgan," he said, rubbing his face.

"Kid, why is your face wet?" Derek asked, noticing that he had drops of water on his face.

"I just washed it." Reid lied.

Derek closed his eyes. "Reid, what's going on?"

"Nothing!"

"What's in your hand?" he said, gesturing towards Reid's hand, which was clamped shut.

"Nothing," Reid said quietly.

Morgan slowly walked towards him. "Let me see your hand."

Reid sighed. "Morgan, you don't wanna do this." He said, hesitating before holding out his hand, which was still shut.

Morgan gently opened Reid's hand, revealing two small jars. "Reid!"

Reid looked at the floor. "I'm sorry…"

"Sorry for what? Look, kid, if you need something, tell me!" Morgan said, taking the jars, not believing it was dilaudid.

"I don't even know why I'm doing it. I wanted to feel better after what happened with… Maeve, but I stopped myself. When we got in that fight, I just took it, and I felt better. I couldn't stop because it made me feel so good." He said, biting his lip.

Derek closed his eyes, sighing, then slowly opening them again. "Look, Reid, we're all here for you. You can tell us stuff like this. We won't laugh, we'll just help you through it."

Reid bit his lip. "I know that."

"Why didn't you come to one of us?"

"Because I knew that if I did, it wouldn't help. I wouldn't be able to stop, even with help, and then you guys would just treat me like I'm a baby. Again."

"Again?"

"When I first joined the team. I was so young, you all just made me feel like a baby."

"We cared about you, Reid!"

"I know. Look, I can deal with this on my own. Just leave me alone." Reid said, storming out of the bathroom.

"Reid!" Morgan said, going after him.

Reid was fast, but not fast enough to get away from Morgan. Morgan grabbed his wrist firmly, and turned him around. "Reid, I'm not going to let you keep hurting yourself with this." He said, gesturing towards the drug.

"Morgan, you don't want to do this." He said, noticing that everyone was watching them.

"Yes, I do, Reid. I want to help. We want to help."

At this point, the rest of the team was walking out of the round table room. Emily's eyes were wide as she headed down to the boys.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Nothing." Reid said.

Morgan held up the bottles. "These were in his hand." He shook his head.

Emily gasped. "Reid…" her finger went to her mouth as she started to chew on the fingernail.

"I'm fine! This is none of your business! None of any of yours!" he said looking around at everyone.

"Spence," JJ walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't touch me," he said jerking away and started to head towards the elevator.

"Spencer!" she said, grabbing him.

Everyone but the team started to leave, letting the BAU be alone.

"Reid. We can help you." Hotch said.

"I don't need or want help. I can deal with my own problems." He said.

"Let us help you." Rossi said.

"Reid, we all love you. We can help you! We've helped you before, we can help you this time. We are your team. Your family." Garcia said, tears forming in her eyes. "We can make so much happy in your life, you won't have to worry about the sad. I know losing… her was really hard for you, it was hard for all of us. When you hurt, I hurt. We all hurt. You're a genius. You are smarter than all of us put together. We love you. We're all here for you." She smiled her compassionate smile and put a soft hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks." He smiled a tiny little smile.

Everyone smiled as they formed a group hug, him in the middle.

_Later that night, at Emily Prentiss's hotel room _

Emily was lying down in her hotel bed when there was a small knock at the door. She jumped up and opened it. It was Derek.

"Hey, Derek!" she smiled. "Wait… how did you know which room I was in?"

"I know an FBI computer expert… and she's the one who booked the room for you." He laughed. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," she opened the door wider, allowing him to come in, then she closed the door behind them.

"Emily. Are you going to find a place?" he asked suddenly.

"What? Like somewhere to live?" she asked.

"Yeah, like a house or an apartment or something." He said.

"I'm still having all my stuff flown over, but yeah, I'm going to. Soon."

"Do you want to… stay with me? Until you find somewhere?" he asked.

"Derek, you don't have to do that…" she said.

"You're my girlfriend. I want to do it." He smiled, putting his arm on her.

"Well, then, sure," she smiled as he pulled her closer to him.

He kissed her, gently, then grinned as she kissed him back, not as gentle. Before he knew it, he was starting to unbutton her top.

"No, Derek, not now." She said, pulling away.

"Why?" he said.

"I'm not really in the mood… and this is a hotel. It's not the best time, either." She said, re-buttoning her blouse.

"Okay, that's fine, princess." He smiled at her.

"Thanks." She smiled back.

"You wanna head over to my place?" he asked.

"Yeah. Just no… you know." She said.

"I know! None. At all." He grinned mischievously.

"I'll get my stuff, then we can go downstairs and I'll check out." She said.

"Let me help." He said, grabbing her bag and helping her gather her stuff.

"Thanks," she said.

"Always."


	12. Chapter 12- Jello-O and Kisses

"So, what do you wanna do?" Derek asked Emily after she set her suitcase down.

"We just got here," she laughed.

"I know…" he smiled.

Emily giggled.

"Have you… had dinner yet?" he grinned.

"No…" Emily said.

"I have some leftover Jell-O from the other night… want that?"

Emily smirked. "Jell-O? You eat Jell-O for dinner?"

"Sometimes." He laughed.

"It's okay, we can eat it." She smiled.

He walked over to the fridge, grabbed the cherry Jell-O, set it on the counter, then grabbed bowls and spoons for them. As he split the Jell-O into two halves, he asked Emily, "So, what are you looking for in a place?"

"Big enough for me, and… oh my god! And Sergio!" she stood up and pulled out her phone.

"Hey, Em, calm down. Garcia hired a pet sitter before you left." He grabbed her arm gently.

"Are you sure? I mean, how do you know they're taking good care of him? What if he misses me? Oh, god, Morgan, help!" she sat down, worried.

"Hey, look at me," Derek said, lifting her chin up so he could look in her eyes. "I'm right here," he said, kissing her, as gently as he could.

"This is a good place." Emily mumbled under her breath, so he couldn't hear.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing!" Emily said, laughing.

Derek smiled at her.

"I'm gonna call Garcia and ask for the number of the sitter." She said, dialing a number on her phone.

"Hello?" A spirited voice on the other end said.

"Hey, Garcia!" Emily said. "It's Emily."

"Oh, hey, Em! What can I do on this fine day… and… why are you there?" Garcia said, gasping.

"What?"

"Uhm, you're at… Derek's house…"

"I'm sorry, no, I'm not. Why do you think that? Garcia, did you track my phone again? What did I say about how annoying that is?" Emily half laughed.

"I'm sorry. It's just so tempting, I can't help it. I guess that's kinda creepy. Like unsub-ish." Garcia said, a bit of shame in her voice.

"So, you hired a sitter for Serge, right? He's okay?" Emily asked.

"Yep! Only the best of the best! My dear friend Nicole Harrington. She's great. Sergio is in good hands." Garcia exclaimed.

"Thanks, Garcia." Emily said, relieved.

"Emily?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Why are you at Derek's house?"

Emily was quiet for a moment, then said, "We're just having drinks, as friends. I'll send you a picture." She said, looking at Derek, motioning to get wine and some glasses.

"Okay! I'll talk to you later. I'm looking forward to that pic!" Garcia said, then hung up.

Emily put her phone in her pocket and said, "Hurry, pour the wine!" she said, grabbing a glass.

"Do we look normal?" Derek asked, looking into the glass of wine. "I haven't used these for a while, so there might be some dust." He frowned.

"Okay, let me take the pic." She said, grabbing her phone and taking a quick picture when they were both smiling.

"Looks good," Morgan said, "Send it."

Emily quickly sent it to Garcia, then put her phone away. "I'm glad Sergio is okay."

Derek laughed. "Me too,"

"You're great, you know that, right?" Emily said to Derek.

"I don't know, but I know you're even better." He said, placing his glass down and pulling her close.

She set her glass down also, then welcomed his embrace.

Derek kissed her, softly at first, then more aggressive as time went by. She returned his kisses with more, then finally they stopped, agreeing it was time to go to bed.

"You're beautiful," Derek said to Emily.

"Well, you're handsome!" she laughed.

"Come sleep with me tonight. I don't want to be lonely." He smiled at her.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I'd like that."

"Then okay," she smiled, following him into his bedroom before falling asleep in his arms.


	13. Chapter 13- Valentine's Day

When Emily woke up, she turned over and expected Derek to be lying there, but he wasn't. She frowned and sat up, realizing that she had slept in her blouse and jeans.

"Aw, Em, no, I was gonna serve you breakfast!" Derek said, frowning as he walked into his bedroom.

Emily smiled. "Why are you spoiling me?"

"No reason. I'm just showing my love for my girlfriend. Anyways, because it's _Valentine's Day_." He said, setting a tray of food down on the bed. "Come here, beautiful," he said, putting his hand out for Emily to grab.

"I forgot that was today," Emily said quietly, reaching for his hand as she stepped towards him.

"Emily Prentiss, will you be my valentine?" he asked, pulling a single rose out from behind his back.

"Of course, Derek," she said, taking the rose and smiling.

Derek grabbed her free hand and kissed it. Emily placed the rose delicately on the bed, then grabbed his hand. Derek gave Emily her favorite kind of kisses: soft, and slow. She returned his with more. He pulled her closer, stroking her hair, then stopping as she started to talk.

"I wish we had today off of work." She said, looking at the calendar and seeing it was Thursday.

"Me too," he said, kissing her on the forehead.

"Derek," she said, "We seriously need to tell the team."

"Why? There's no point."

"There's no point in keeping it from them, either."

"I know," he said, "It would just be really awkward."

Emily pulled away from him. "Awkward? Why?"

"Emily, I didn't mean it that way. I mean, it's mostly Garcia. What would she say?"

"Derek, who cares? If she's upset, so be it. It's our relationship, we can do what we want."

"Isn't it… against the rules, for two from the team to be in a relationship?" Derek said, frowning.

Emily sighed. "I don't think so. I think Strauss just wouldn't approve. I've never heard of that rule, luckily."

Derek reached out for her, and to his pleasure, she came to him and put her arms around him. "Let's go out tonight," he said.

"That's okay with me," Emily said.

"A date," he said. "Just me… and you."

Emily smiled. "Of course. You and me. Perfect…" Emily said, looking into his eyes.

"I love it when you do that." Derek said, smiling at her.

"Do what?" Emily said.

"Look into my eyes like that." He laughed.

They were interrupted by a knock at his front door.

"Hold on," he said.

"Should I… hide?" Emily said quietly.

"Um, sure. Just in the bedroom." He shrugged.

Emily went into his bedroom and closed the door. Derek walked to his door, and opened it. It was Garcia.

"Hey, baby girl! What are you doing here?" he asked casually.

"I want to know." She said as she angrily walked in.

"Know what, Penelope?"

"Why did Em spend the night here? Morgan, are you guys… did you guys…" her face showed shock.

"Garcia, it's not what you think. Really, it's…" Derek said, but Garcia was already walking quickly towards the bedroom.

She opened the door and found Emily. "Em… oh my god…" her mouth dropped open.

"Garcia, it's not that…" Emily rushed over to Garcia, who was staring at Derek with shock.

"You guys could have told me, you know." Garcia said. Then she smiled. "I'm not mad! I'm happy for you guys! Oh my goodness, this is amazing!"

"Garcia, what do you mean?" Derek asked, his eyebrows narrowing.

"You guys will be so cute together!" Garcia said.

"Garcia, we're not-" Emily started.

Garcia shook her head. "You should tell the rest of the team. Does anyone else know?"

Emily took a deep breath. "Reid," she said, "He saw us kissing in the elevator for the first time. So I guess you could say that he knows."

"Okay," Garcia said. "I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks." Morgan and Prentiss said at the same time.

_Hotch's Date w/ Beth later that day_

"So, how is the team?" Beth asked Hotch as they sat down at the restaurant table.

"It's good," he said, "Emily Prentiss came back, so we have her again."

"That's great!" Beth said, smiling. "I'd like to see her sometime."

"So, what have you been up to? Besides coming here to see me." Hotch asked.

"I have to tell you something." Beth said, looking happy.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I requested a job transfer, to back here and… they accepted it! I can move back here!" Beth said, excited.

"That's great!" Hotch smiled, which was a rare thing for him.

"Yeah, I'm very excited about it." She smiled.

"Listen, do you want to take a walk?" Hotch asked.

"We haven't even eaten yet!" Beth said.

"I know, but… I really need to ask you something."

"I guess…" she smiled.

Hotch led Beth out to a big open field, the whereabouts of which she didn't know.

"What's all this for?" Beth asked when she saw a little picnic laid out in the middle of the field.

"Let's eat." Hotch said, sitting down and preparing some sandwiches for dinner.

"Sandwiches? For dinner?" Beth laughed.

"I know, it's not the best. Sorry."

"No, it's… romantic…" Beth smiled.

After they ate and had some cookies for dessert, Hotch spoke up.

"Can I ask you something?" he said.

"Sure. Anything." She said.

He took a deep breath, and said, "Beth, you are the love of my life. I never thought I'd say this, to anyone, but I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you."

"Aaron… that was beautiful…" she blushed.

"I need to ask you something." He said, then got down on one knee.

"Oh my god…" Beth said.

"Beth Clemmons, will you marry me?" Hotch asked, after he took out a little black box and opened it to reveal a beautiful ring with a small diamond in the middle.

"Oh my, oh my god, uh, yes! Yes, I'll marry you!" she smiled as Hotch stood up and slid the ring on her finger.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too!" Beth said.

Hotch hugged her and smiled. He had never felt this happy in his life.

_Emily and Derek's Date_

Emily pulled a simple black cocktail dress out of her duffle bag. It was the only other dress she brought, the rest were still being flown over with the rest of her stuff from London.

She quickly changed into it, then pulled her hair back into a loose but pretty bun. She put on the black heels she wore before, then headed out from Derek's bathroom into the living room.

"Well, someone's looking sexy tonight!" Derek said, coming out of his bedroom.

He was wearing a black suit with a white shirt, and he had a dark red tie on.

"Well, you look pretty handsome." She said.

"Thanks, beautiful." He said.

"You better not call me that in front of the team. They'll know something's up." She said.

"I won't, even though I really, really want to." He chuckled.

"Let's go," Emily said, heading towards the door.

"Okay," he said.

When they arrived at the restaurant, they ordered, then ate over a long conversation about Star Wars. When Derek suggested that they go out on a walk, Emily accepted.

"I need to tell you something I've never told you before." Derek said when they were alone in a park.

"What is that?" she asked.

He took a deep breath. "I love you."

Emily blushed, and her heart started racing. "What?"

"I said, I love you." He said.

Emily smiled. "I love you too,"

Then Derek gave her Emily's most wanted Valentine's day gift: a soft, slow passionate kiss.


	14. Chapter 14- Announcements

"Hey, good morning, beautiful." Derek said as he rolled over to face Emily.

"Mm. Hi." Emily said, opening her eyes.

Derek sat up and pulled the covers from over Emily. Emily sat up and groaned.

"We have to go to work, come on," Derek said, walking around the bed to her side.

"No," Emily said. "I'm too tired."

Derek laughed. "We have to. Do you wanna get fired?"

"Ugh. No." she said, sitting up.

"Come on," Derek said, pulling her up from the bed. He kissed her cheek, then pushed her hair behind her ear.

Emily kissed him back, but on the lips this time. "Good morning."

"That's a little delayed." He laughed.

"Sorry," she said.

"Let's get dressed," he said.

"K." she replied.

Derek grabbed her hand and walked with her out into the kitchen. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Hm."

"I have Cheerios." He said.

"Ah, that sounds good." She smiled.

"You seem really tired!" Derek said while he poured some Cheerios into a bowl.

"I am really tired." Emily said, with no sarcasm in her voice.

He poured some milk into the bowl, then handed it to her with a spoon.

"Thanks," she said.

"Uh huh." He said, grabbing another bowl. He poured some Cheerios for himself, poured some milk, then grabbed a spoon and sat down next to Emily.

After they finished eating, Derek put the bowls in the sink and went with Emily to the bedroom to change.

"How much clothes do you have? Do you need to go shopping?" Derek asked her.

"Oh, no, I'm fine, the rest of my stuff is being flown in from London. It should be here by… I think next Tuesday." She said, shaking her head.

"Emily. Tonight, we're going to go shopping, okay?" Derek said.

"No, you don't have to…" Emily said.

"I know. But I'm going to. You're my girlfriend, so it's fun." He said, smiling.

"Okay…I guess." She paused. "Look, Derek, we have to tell the team. Seriously."

"Tell them that we're going shopping?" he asked.

"No. That we're dating."

Derek sighed. "I… okay. But… how?"

"We can just say we have an announcement to make, or something. It won't be that hard. Garcia and Reid already know, so that will help." She said.

"I guess." He said as he grabbed some clothes from his dresser.

Emily grabbed a shirt and some pants from her bag. "Man, I really should have packed more. I wore these pants the first day I was here."

"That's why we're going shopping." He said.

"I know!" she laughed.

"Alright, I'm gonna change… do you want to get changed in here or the bathroom?" he asked awkwardly.

"Do you mind if I change in here? I mean, it's not like we haven't seen each other with our clothes off." She smirked.

"Yeah, that's true. You can change in here. I don't care." He said.

After they both changed, Emily started to head out the door, but Derek grabbed her wrist. "Since we can't do this at work yet…" he said, kissing her on the lips.

"We'll be able to do it soon," Emily said after Derek kissed her.

"True." He said, then kissed her on the head. "I love you."

Emily felt herself blushing. "Love you too."

Emily and Derek arrived at the BAU together, which sent a little suspicion around the room. Garcia winked at them as she walked up. "Are you going to tell them today?"

Emily and Derek nodded at the same time.

Garcia smiled. "Yay!"

They smiled back as they started to walk to their desks.

"I wouldn't sit down," JJ said as she walked by. "We're starting the briefing."

Prentiss, Morgan and Garcia started to walk to the round table room, following JJ. Once they were inside and Garcia was about to start briefing, Emily said something. "Hey, guys, um can I say something?"

Everyone nodded and Hotch just said, "Sure. I have something to say also after her."

Derek got up and stood over by Emily. "We have an announcement,"

Emily nodded. "Here goes nothing," she said, but was interrupted by Derek grabbing her hand and kissing her on the lips, so everyone could see.

"I thought we weren't going to do it that way," Emily whispered to him.

"Sorry," he smiled.

Everyone but Reid and Garcia were shocked.

"You guys… you guys are dating?" JJ asked, her mouth open with shock.

Emily nodded, and Derek just kissed her head. "Yeah, we are."

"For how long?" Rossi asked, not as shocked.

"Just since last week. Not very long." Derek said.

They all looked at Hotch, still waiting for his reaction. "It's okay, I'm not mad. I'm okay with this. But Strauss…" he said.

"I'm sure she'll be okay with it…" Garcia said, but realized that the chance of that was very low.

"If she has any issues, I'll speak to her." Rossi said.

"What makes you think she'll listen to you more than any of us?" Emily joked.

"I don't know." He said.

"So, Hotch, what did you want to tell us?" Derek asked.

Hotch smiled.

"Did he just… smile?" Emily asked Derek quietly. Derek nodded.

"Beth and I… are engaged." He said.

"That's great!" Derek said.

"Awesome!" Emily said, smiling.

"Congrats!" Rossi said.

"I knew this would happen! Yay Hotch!" Garcia said.

"Congratulations," JJ said.

Reid just smiled, then nodded. He was still recovering from being addicted to dilaudid.

"Thanks, guys." Hotch said, smiling.

"Well, let's get to the case." Garcia said.

Hotch nodded.

"Two weeks ago, Destiny Long was found in her home in Yuba City, California. She was in her swimming pool, but the cause of death was not drowning." Garcia said, clicking her remote as pictures popped up on the screen.

"What was the cause of death, if it wasn't drowning?" Emily asked, sitting down next to Morgan.

"She was suffocated." Garcia said. "Last week, Lorena Brooks was also found in her swimming pool, same death cause. Both of the girls had brown hair, and they were in their early forties."

Emily bit her lip, but was comforted by Morgan grabbing her hand and squeezing it.

"Finally, yesterday, Briana Roberts went missing from her home. Same victim ology." Garcia said.

"The unsub takes the victims from their homes, then brings them back two days later and kills them in their homes and leaves them. Why?" JJ said.

"Maybe the unsub is trying to live out a fantasy." Rossi suggested.

"Maybe," Prentiss said, still a little anxious about the victim ology.


	15. Chapter 15- Victimology

"Wheels up in thirty." Hotch said.

Emily stood up, shaking. Derek noticed her distress and hugged her.

"Hey, Em. You're gonna be fine." He said.

"I know. It seems like someone is punishing me for coming back to the BAU. I mean, I don't even know why I'm freaking out. You'll keep me safe. Right?" she said.

"Yes," he said, then kissed her.

She smiled, and went to kiss him back, but they were interrupted.

"Were you going to tell me about this?" Strauss said, walking into the room.

"Mam, I am so sorry, we were going to but…" Derek started.

"It's okay. As long as you," she pointed to Emily, "Don't get pregnant or anything. Then I would be mad." Strauss laughed a little.

Emily also laughed.

"So… you're okay with this?" Morgan asked. "Emily and I dating?"

Strauss nodded, then gestured to Prentiss. "Don't get pregnant."

"Of course not," she smiled, then looked at Derek. "Not for a while, anyways."

They all laughed, then Derek took Emily's hand and walked out the round table room with her. "Not for a while?" he joked.

"I don't know," she said, "I'd sort of like to wait until we're married to have kids, you know?"

"That's okay with me." He said.

As soon as Derek and Emily had gotten their travel bags and were on the plane, Emily started to freak out a little more.

"Hey, beautiful, it's okay. I'll be by your side this entire case. I'll make sure of it." He said after he noticed something was wrong.

Emily smirked. "Even in the bathroom?"

"Um… no. Just not there. But everywhere else: the hotel room or wherever we're staying, out in the field, even back in the office or in the SUVs. I will not leave your side." He said.

"Thanks, babe." She said, hugging him.

He kissed her and put his hand on her cheek. "You're gonna be fine,"

"I know." She said.

JJ, Reid and Rossi were watching them, entertained.

"I wonder if they're going to do that the whole way." JJ asked, because the two were now having a 'kiss war' where they each just kissed each other a lot.

"I hope not." Rossi said, a little disgusted.

JJ just laughed, and started to set up the laptop that Garcia spoke to them through.

"Hey, you wanna know something?" Derek asked Emily, still kissing her.

"Yeah," she said, kissing him back.

"I love you," he said.

Emily stopped and look at him. "I love you too."

At that moment, Hotch walked onto the plane. He saw Emily and Derek kissing, then shook his head. "Morgan. Prentiss."

They stopped and awkwardly looked at him. "Sorry," they said at the same time.

"It's okay," he said. "Just save that for personal time, okay?"

"Yes sir." They said, also at the same exact time.

When he turned around, the couple looked at each other and laughed.

After the plane took off, the team talked about the unsub for a little longer.

"So the unsub takes these women somewhere, keeps them for two days, then kills them at their homes. Garcia, did the medical examiner say that there was sexual assault?" JJ said.

"Yes, both of the women were raped." She replied.

"Hm… why would he bring them back to their homes?" Emily asked.

"Let's find out." Morgan said.

When they landed, Derek stopped Emily from getting off the jet. "Hey," he said when they were alone.

"Yeah?" she said.

"I love you. I want you to know that." He said, then kissed her forehead.

"I love you too." She said.

He put his arm around her, then walked out of the plane with her.

They arrived at the Yuba City Police Department and met the detective, Glenn Williams.

"I'm Jennifer Jareau, we spoke on the phone?" JJ shook his hand.

"Yes, I'm Detective Glenn Williams." he asked.

"This is

"Just a room with a table, a TV and a few outlets will work" JJ said.

"We have a few of those. I'll give you the biggest." He said, starting to walk to a room.

JJ nodded and started following him.

Williams led them to a room, then let them set up.

Emily was still a little scared about the unsub's choice of victims, and Derek could sense it. "Hey, princess. You're fine. If I'm with you the whole time, you won't get hurt." He said.

"I know. I'm just… I don't know. A little shaken up." She said.

"You're okay. You'll be fine. Right in my arms." He said, then wrapped his arms around her.

"Thanks."

"I love you."

"I love you too."


	16. Chapter 16- Taken

After talking about the unsub all day and trying to figure him out, Prentiss was tired. She wanted to sleep, and asked Hotch where they were staying.

"Hillbraid Hotel. Here's some directions." He handed her a piece of paper.

"Thanks," she said. She went to find Morgan, but couldn't she couldn't remember the last time she saw him, and why they separated.

"Hey, Em. You should get some sleep. You look like crap." JJ said as she walked by Prentiss.

"I will. Hey, have you seen Morgan?" she asked.

"Why, so you guys can make out?" JJ joked.

"No! But seriously, have you?" she asked.

"No, sorry."

"Hm. Okay, thanks." Emily said, frowning. Where was he? She took out her phone and called him. No answer. She decided to leave and go to the hotel by herself, knowing it was risky.

As she was walking out to one of the SUVs, in the dark, she thought she heard footsteps behind her. She shook her head, and pretended she was imagining it.

"Hey, miss?" a man's voice spoke up behind Emily. She turned around, her hand on her gun.

"Yeah?" she said, getting a good grip on the Glock 19.

"Do you know where this place is?" the man said. Prentiss noticed he was wearing all black, and his hood was on, so she couldn't properly see his face. He pointed to a piece of paper, but Prentiss was confused when she saw just a blank page. She was so tired, she just wanted to sleep, and didn't notice that the man was holding a gun until it wacked her hard on the head. Everything instantly went black.

"Hey, have you seen Prentiss?" Morgan asked JJ.

"Uh, yeah, she just asked for you." She said.

"Okay. Because she just called my phone, but I was in the middle of a conversation with Rossi about the unsub and I was going to call her back. When I did call her, she didn't answer. I called her three times. Usually, she would answer. Something's wrong, JJ." He said.

"Okay, when was the last time you saw her?" she asked.

"A while ago… right before she went into the bathroom. She looked like hell, so I told her that. She said she was going to go in the restroom to rinse her face, so I said okay. Then, after she didn't come out after a while, I went to go talk to Rossi. Man, I shouldn't have done that, oh my god." He said, rubbing his eyes in distress.

"Listen, Morgan, we don't even know if she's missing. She's probably fine." JJ said.

"Who's probably fine?" Reid walked up.

"Emily. She's not answering Morgan's calls." JJ said.

"I'm sure she's fine," he said.

"Reid, please don't." JJ said to him, giving him the 'look at him' face.

"God, I told her I wouldn't leave her side, what was I thinking? I'm so stupid…" Morgan said, starting to pace back and forth. "We have to find her. I'll look outside. JJ, can you check the hotel?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure." She said. "Reid, go with Morgan. I'll ask Hotch if he can come with me."

As JJ headed off, Morgan and Reid went outside to look for Emily.

"Whatever you do, Reid, let's not split up." Morgan said to Reid.

Reid nodded. They ran around, yelling Emily's name for a couple minutes, and Morgan started to lose hope.

"Morgan," Reid said. "We're going to find her. She's probably at the hotel." He said.

"I hope so." He said. Just then, his phone rang. "Hello?" he said. "Yeah. She's… she's not? Okay. Thanks, JJ." He hung up, furious. "She's not there!"

Reid bit his lip. "I'm sure she's… fine." He said.

"She's not fine!" he started to yell. "She's my girlfriend! She would have answered the phone when I called her!"

"Morgan, please, calm down." Reid said.

"I'm not going to calm down! I'm worried about her!" he said.

Emily woke up with a pounding headache. She opened her eyes, but everything was blurry. Her heart stopped when she realized where she was. She looked around, and figured out she was in a small shed with only one window. Her hands were tied behind her back, and she was sitting on the ground against a chair. Her waist was tied to the chair. She almost let out a scream when she saw a man standing there, but stopped herself.

"Tell me more about Derek Morgan." He said.

She glared at the man, trying to hide her fear. _How did he know about Derek? _She screamed in her head.

"Your little friend, Derek Morgan. Your fellow FBI agent." He laughed creepily.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Emily managed to say, her head throbbing.

"Yes, you do. When you were sleeping, you were dreaming about him. You said his name a couple times. He also called your cell phone five times. He seems a little bit worried about you, I would think. Now tell me about him!" the unsub yelled, pulling out a gun.

"Never." Emily said, refusing to tell him anything.

"Then I'll find him, and I'll kill him. Or, I'll just bring him back here. You'll watch him die." He said, sitting down at a desk with a computer. He typed quickly, then smiled. "I found him. And the rest of your dumb little team. I know where they're staying. I could kill them all… but I'll spare them. I'm going to take your friend, then I'll bring him back here. For once, you won't be able to save him. No one will." The man said after shutting down the computer and standing up.

"You sick son of a bitch!" Emily yelled.

The unsub laughed, then walked out the door.

Emily groaned, and a tear slipped down her cheek. She felt so helpless. Derek was out there, somewhere, and the unsub was about to kidnap him. She started crying, and looked down at her feet. She saw something out of the corner of her eye that gave her a little hope. It was a rock. She reached her foot out, and brought the rock closer to her. She took a deep breath as she grabbed the rock with both of her ankles. She thrust the rock with all her might towards the window, and was relieved when the window shattered, sending shards of glass everywhere. She chose the piece closet to her, and brought it to her with her foot. She twisted her leg around so that she could grab the piece with her hand. Painfully, all her joints twisting, she cut the rope around her hands. The rope finally fell off her wrists, and she quickly untied the rope around her waist. She stood up, and started towards the door. She stopped when she noticed her phone, wallet, which contained her badge, and her gun sitting on the desk with the computer. She grabbed her wallet, placed it in her pocket, and then put her gun away. She picked up the phone and turned it on. As she started to walk out the door, she called Garcia, who was back in Quantico.

"Emily? Oh my god, are you okay?" Garcia asked.

"I… I think so. I'm pretty sure I have a really bad concussion, but nothing is broken." She said, opening the door, which thankfully was unlocked.

"Thank god," she said. "Where are you? What happened?"

"I… I don't know. I'm at this property… in a small neighborhood. There's a shed… and… Garcia. There's no house. Just the shed." She said, looking around.

"And… you're in a neighborhood? A normal looking one?" Garcia asked, confused.

"Yeah, I think so. I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be an empty lot. Yeah, there's a for sale sign near the front." She said, walking towards the street.

"Okay. I tracked your phone, I got the address." Garcia said.

"Okay, good. Listen, don't send anyone here yet. I don't want you to worry, but the unsub is going after Morgan. He heard me talking about him while I was knocked out, and he also called me a couple times." She said, her voice shaking.

"Oh, god, no. This isn't happening, not today. No, please!" Garcia said.

"Garcia, stay calm, please. He'll be fine, I promise. He's Derek. He can protect himself." Emily said.

"I know, it's just… I don't know. Emily, call someone to come pick you up. Like JJ or someone. Please. I'm worried about you!" she said.

"Okay, I will. Listen, I'll talk to you later. I promise." She said.

"Talk to you later." Garcia said.

"Bye." Emily said, hanging up. She dialed JJ's number and waited for her to answer.

"Hello? Emily?" JJ said on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, JJ, listen. I need you to come pick me up. Garcia will send you an address, that's where I am." She said.

"Emily, are you okay?" JJ said.

"Yeah, I'm fine, please, just come pick me up." She said.

"Okay, yeah. Garcia just sent the address, I'm on my way."

"Thanks. See you soon." Emily said.

"Wait, Em. Are you okay? Really?" JJ asked, concerned.

"Yeah. JJ. I'm okay."

"Listen… do you know where Morgan is?" JJ asked.

"No, I… I don't. I… I think I know where he is, though. Or where he's going to be soon."

"What are you talking about? Emily, what happened?"

"I'll tell you when you're here."

"Okay. Listen, keep me on the phone. I want to know you're safe."

"Don't worry. I will."

When JJ got to Emily, they went straight back to the BAU. Emily quickly talked to a sketch artist, and then the team was ready to head to the unsub's shed.

But, with her medical condition, Hotch didn't want her to go with them. She insisted, because she wanted to help save her boyfriend. After they bandaged her up a little, the team and some backup headed off to the shed.


	17. Chapter 17- Traumatized

Morgan woke up in a room he didn't recognize. There was a shattered window, a door, and a desk with a computer on it. He groaned and sat up.

"Where is she." Someone said.

Derek looked around, then saw a man pacing back and forth.

"Derek Morgan, you're awake!" the man said, and walked towards him. "Where is your friend, Emily Prentiss?"

"She got away… she's smarter than you." Morgan managed to say.

"No!" the unsub shouted. "No one is smarter than me! Now, how did she get out? Tell me, or I'll kill you."

"I don't know. And if I did, I wouldn't tell you." Derek said.

"No! You know! You liar!" The unsub became furious, and kicked Morgan back to the ground. "No! One! Is! Smarter! Than! Me!" the man yelled, each time kicking Morgan in the head once more. "You! Will! DIE!" he yelled, and kicked Morgan in the head once more, this one harder than the past kicks.

Morgan had passed out, and he was near death. If he didn't get medical attention soon, he would die. The unsub heard sirens outside, and hid behind the door in the shed.

Emily ran towards the shed, wanting to save Morgan.

"Prentiss! Stop! Don't go in by yourself…" Hotch tried, but Emily was too fast and was already opening the door to the shed.

The unsub heard Emily come inside, and when her back was facing him, he tackled her. Emily punched the man in the face, but he was too strong and pinned her down. She heard a gunshot, and the man fell off of her. She looked up to see Reid, putting his gun away.

"Thank you." She said, and rushed over to Morgan. "We need a medic!" she cried, caressing his face. "Come on, Derek. Don't leave me. Stay with me. Please!" she felt tears run down her face, and she suddenly realized something: this was how he felt when she was 'dying'. She started sobbing, and she felt a hand on her back: JJ's. She heard more sirens, ambulance sirens this time, and let go a sigh of relief. She kissed Morgan on the head, very softly, because his head was swollen and bloody. She wiped the tears from her eyes and thought, he'll be okay, he will. He's Derek. He's a fighter.

"Emily, let's go. The medics can take care of him." JJ carefully pulled her away from Derek.

"No," she said firmly. "I want to ride with them."

"Can she ride with you…?" JJ asked the medics.

"Of course," one of them said, escorting Emily out to the ambulance.

They lifted Derek into the ambulance, and Emily climbed in after them. She sat at his side as they rode to the hospital.

"Come on, dammit, Morgan! You're going to be okay! Wake up!" Emily said to him.

"Mam, please, keep your voice down." One of the medics said.

"I'm sorry, sir." She said, embarrassed.

When they arrived at the hospital, they wheeled Derek off into a room where Emily wasn't allowed to go. She started to cry, again, but then the rest of the team arrived shortly after. They found her and told her to get some medical care, so she was admitted to the hospital, against her wishes. She wanted to see Morgan more than anything. When Derek was stable enough, the doctors moved him back to a hospital in Quantico. They also transferred Emily, who slept the whole way.

When she was put in a hospital room, she wanted to get out, so the doctors had to make her sleep. They fixed all her injuries, then let the medication wear off.

JJ was sitting in the hospital room with Emily, waiting for her to wake up. When she did, the first thing Emily said was, "Where's Derek? Is he okay? How is he?"

"He's… alive." JJ said quietly.

"Is he okay? Can I see him?" she asked.

"Not right now, Emily."

"Why not? He's my boyfriend, I deserve to see him!" Emily felt a tear run down her cheek.

"He's… asleep."

"Well, when will he wake up?" Emily said, no patience left.

"I don't know… the doctors don't know either." JJ said, biting her lip.

"What do you mean? You're not saying… no. He's not in a coma, is he?" Emily yelled.

"Emily, please, calm down." JJ stood up.

"Don't tell me to calm down! Derek is in a coma and there's nothing that I can do! What am I supposed to do? Sit here and pretend like nothing happened?" Emily shrieked.

At that point, a doctor heard Emily yelling and came into the room. "Is everything okay?"

"No, nothing is okay! My boyfriend is in a coma! I'm supposed to just sit here, on this hospital bed and do nothing?" Emily yelled at the doctor.

"Miss Prentiss, please calm down. I don't want to force you to sleep… again." The doctor said calmly.

"So it was you who did it to me first? Ugh, why don't you people have any respect for us? We don't want to just go to sleep like that! You are a stupid son of a…" but Emily was interrupted by a nurse injecting a shot into her arm, which instantly knocked her out.

"Is she okay?" the doctor asked JJ, concerned.

"Yeah, she's just a little traumatized by everything that happened last night. She was taken, then escaped, and then her boyfriend was also taken by the same man. He was kicked in the head so many times, and after that…"

"I'm sorry, I'm very busy right now, and I have to tend to another patient. She should wake up in about a half an hour." The doctor said, leaving the room.

JJ was taken aback by how rude the doctor was. She stood up and went to the waiting room, where the rest of the team was.

"The last time you came in like that was when you told us that Emily was dead." Reid said quietly, looking up at JJ.

"Spence, please don't." she said.

"Sorry." He mumbled. "So, how is she?"

"She's not doing so well. She didn't take the news so well."

"Is she okay, though?" Rossi asked.

"Yeah. Physically. But she won't be herself until she gets to see Morgan. Awake." JJ said.

"How's Morgan?" Reid asked.

"Um, Spence, it's not such a great idea to ask that now." JJ said.

"I know. I'm sorry." He said, looking down at the ground.

JJ went back to Emily's room, and sat there, staring at the ground until she woke up.

"JJ, I'm sorry I yelled earlier." She said.

"Em, it's okay." JJ said, getting up and walking towards her bed.

"Did you guys get the unsub?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah,"

"He's dead, right? When Reid shot him? He won't hurt us anymore, right?"

"Right." JJ smiled.

"When can I get out of this bed?" Emily asked.

"Well, you can anytime, but you need to… I don't know…"

"Calm down?" Emily finished her sentence.

"I guess so." JJ said.

"I'm feeling better. My head doesn't hurt anymore. But, I'm really tired." Emily said, her eyes slowly closing.

"Get some rest," JJ said, and started walking towards the door.

"Wait," Emily said, her eyes opening again.

"Yeah?" JJ said, turning around to face Emily.

"Is Derek going to live?" she asked.

JJ sighed. "He's a fighter," she said. "He'll be fine."

"Okay," she said.

JJ opened the door, starting to leave.

"Wait," Emily said one more time.

"Yes, Emily?"

"You'll come back, right?" she asked.

"Yeah. Soon." JJ said, then left.

Emily smiled a little as she fell asleep.


	18. Chapter 18- Please

Emily ran into the shed, only to find Derek laying on the ground, with a piece of wood stuck in his stomach.

"Listen to me I know why you did all of this, I know what you did for us and I'm so proud of you, you understand that I am proud of you because you are my friend and you are my partner. No, Derek, stay with me! If you can hear me please just squeeze my hand. Yes, there you go, there you go baby, just keep squeezing!" she said to him.

Suddenly, she woke up, sweat on her forehead.

"Emily?" JJ said. "Emily, are you okay? I think you were having a bad dream." She said, rushing over to her bed.

"Yeah, I just… I had a dream where I was saying the things that Morgan was saying to me. Except they were different words… I was talking about how he saved us or something. JJ, what's wrong with me?" Emily looked at JJ with fear.

"Nothing, Emily. Okay, I'm going to see if you can get out of here, okay? I'm going to talk to the doctor. I'll be right back." JJ said.

"Okay… just… can you send someone in here? Like Reid, or someone?" Emily asked as JJ started to leave.

"Yeah, sure." JJ smiled.

Reid walked in the room, a little nervous, hoping Emily wouldn't go into a rage that JJ had talked about earlier.

"Hey, Reid." Emily said when he walked into the room.

"Hi, Emily." He smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm alright," she said. "But I've seen way better days."

"Me too," he said.

"Any news on Morgan?" Emily asked, hopeful.

"Not that I've heard." He frowned.

"Oh." She felt tears forming in her eyes.

"He's going to be okay." Reid said. "He's a fighter."

"I know." Emily said.

Just then, JJ walked in. "Good news, Emily!" she exclaimed.

"About Derek?" she asked.

"Not yet, but the doctor said you can get out of here. I'll get you a change of clothes, and we can get you something to eat, okay?" JJ said.

"That's… great." She said, upset that there was no news on Morgan.

"I'll be back in a bit!" JJ said, then exited the room.

"How can she be in such a good mood with all that's going on?" Emily said, becoming angry again.

"Emily, please, you don't want to do this. If you do, they're going to put you back in that bed and keep you there for a long time. You don't want that, do you?" Reid said quickly.

Emily sighed. "Sorry," she said. "Yeah, you're right. I'll stop."

Reid nodded.

A while later, JJ was back with some clothes for Emily. Emily was discharged, and after she changed, she demanded to see Morgan.

"Prentiss, that isn't such a good idea." Hotch said.

"Where is he? Please, you can't do this to me!" she said, angry.

"Emily, please." JJ put her hand on Emily's shoulder.

"Sorry." Emily said. "But please, can I see him? Just for a little while?"

Hotch, Rossi and JJ exchanged glances.

"For a little bit," Hotch said.

"Thank you," she sighed in relief.

They led her to a room, which was small and had a couple chairs in it. Emily walked in, and wiped away a tear that rolled down her cheek.

She saw Morgan, and nearly collapsed. He was lying there, on the bed, so lifeless and sad. She walked towards him, shaking, and couldn't believe it was him. His head was wrapped in a white bandage, he was hooked up to too many monitors that Emily could count, and worst of all, his breathing was odd. It wasn't regular, there was no pattern. She put her hand over her mouth.

"Emily, I think you should-ˮ JJ started, but stopped when Emily went to his bedside.

"Derek… please, wake up." Emily said, not caring that tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Hey guys, can I talk to him? Alone?"

"Emily, he won't hear you…" Hotch said.

"I know," she said, looking at Derek. "I just want to."

"Okay," JJ said. "Come on, Hotch."

He nodded and left the room with JJ.

Emily pulled up a chair next to Derek's bed. She sat down and grabbed his hand. "I know you can't hear me, Derek. But I want you to come back to me. Please. I can't live without you." She squeezed his hand. "Listen, I know you make it. Just please, wake up, Derek! I want to talk to you! I can't go on for long without talking to you!" she said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Dammit, Morgan, please! Wake up!" she yelled.

Hotch heard her yelling, so he rushed in the room to find Emily sobbing on the floor. "Emily," he said calmly, "It's going to be okay."

She looked up, and shook her head. "Why?" she said, wiping the tears from her eyes, even though they were still running down her face. "Why did this happen to him? He didn't do anything. I mean, it should be me…"

"Emily, please. Let's get out of here." Hotch said.

"Tell me when he wakes up." She said angrily, then started towards the door. She stopped, then turned around.

"Emily," Hotch said cautiously.

"Wait." She sniffed. She walked over to Morgan, then softly kissed him on the cheek.

Suddenly, the heart monitor came to a stop, then began a continued beep.

"No!" Emily scream, backing away from him.

"Doctor!" Hotch yelled, grabbing Emily's arm and pulling her from the room. A group of doctors and nurses ran in and closed the door behind them after Hotch and Emily were out.

"No, no, Hotch, it was all my fault! I killed him!" Prentiss screamed, and JJ put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Hotch walked over the window looking into Morgan's room. He sighed, relieved, as he said, "He's alive. The heart beat is back."

Emily closed her eyes as JJ hugged her. "It's going to be okay, Emily." JJ said. "He's fine."

"I know." Emily whispered.

"Is everything okay?" Rossi said, coming out of the bathroom. "I heard screaming," he said, alarmed.

"Yeah, Morgan's heart stopped for a couple seconds, but he's okay now." Hotch said.

Rossi took a deep breath. "I'm glad he's alright."

Hotch nodded. "Me too."

"Come on, Emily, let's get you out of here." JJ said, putting her arm around her shoulders and leading her towards the door.

Emily nodded.

"Let's go to my place." JJ said.

"Okay." Emily said quietly.


	19. Chapter 19- Blacked Out

One of the doctors came out of the hospital room to talk to Hotch.

"How is he?" Hotch asked.

"He's stabilized." The doctor said.

"Do you know why his heart stopped?" Rossi asked.

"We think it was shock, which leads us to think he might wake up soon. Maybe. There's something else you should know, too." The doctor said.

"What is it?" Hotch asked, concerned.

"Your agent… may have some brain damage when he wakes up." The doctor sighed.

Hotch rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Is there… any idea of how much?"

"No. We're thinking not very much, but we're not sure." The doctor said.

"Thank you, doctor." Hotch said.

The doctor nodded, and went back into the hospital room.

_JJ's Home_

As the girls were walking up to the house, Emily asked, "Is anybody else home?"

"Will and Henry. The daycare isn't open today, so Will took an unpaid day off to stay home with Henry." JJ explained.

Emily nodded.

"Listen, Emily, I know you aren't in the best mood right now, because of everything that is going on right now. I just want you to know that we are all here for you, no matter what happens. We can stay here for a while, and then maybe later we can go back to the hospital, okay?" JJ said.

"Okay. Thanks." Emily said.

JJ went up to the door and opened it with her keys. "We always keep the doors locked, no matter what." She said.

Emily nodded once more.

"Jennifer? Is that you?" Will's voice called from somewhere in the house.

"Yep, it's me, and Emily." JJ said.

Will walked out of the hallway and greeted JJ with a kiss. "Hey, Emily." He said to Emily.

"Hi." Emily said quietly.

"Are you… are you okay?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah. I'm fine." She said.

"Um, Will, can I talk to you for a minute?" JJ said.

"Sure," he nodded, then went to a different room with JJ.

Emily stood in the entry room by herself, looking around awkwardly.

Meanwhile, JJ was telling Will what happened.

"Is he okay?" Will asked after she told him what happened to Morgan.

"I think so, he's in the hospital now. His heart stopped for a couple seconds, but I haven't heard why." She said. Just then, her cell phone rang.

"Hello?" she said. "Yeah. Oh… um, what should I tell Emily?" JJ asked, shock on her face. "Okay. Yeah. Yes. Sounds good. Bye." She said, then hung up.

"What is it?" Will asked.

"That was Hotch. The doctors said that Morgan may have some brain damage." She sighed.

"What are you gonna tell Emily?" he asked.

"The truth." She said, taking a deep breath.

"Mommy!" Henry came running in the room and hugged JJ.

"Hey, buddy! Whatcha doing?" she asked, hiding her stress.

"I want to play," he said.

"You can ask daddy," she said, looking at Will as if to say please, "But I have to do something right now."

"Okay mommy." He said, turning to his dad.

"Let's go, Henry." He said, picking him up and leaving the room.

JJ walked out into the room where Emily was. "Hey," she said.

"What happened?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" JJ asked.

"I can tell something's wrong, JJ." She said.

"Okay, listen, Hotch just called and the doctors told him something. You might want to sit down." She said, gesturing to one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

"Is he dead." Emily asked, saying it like it was a statement.

"No, Emily, why would you say that?" JJ shook her head.

"I don't know." She said.

"Well, Hotch said that… the doctors think that when Morgan wakes up, he might have some brain damage."

Emily's face got pale. "How… how much?" she whispered.

"They aren't sure, but probably not much." She said.

Emily's breathing became unsteady.

"Em? Are you okay?" JJ asked, worried when she saw Emily's breathing.

Emily felt dizzy, and looked at JJ before she passed out.


	20. Chapter 20- Do you?

Emily woke up on a couch, the sound of a fan clicking in the distance.

"Emily?" she heard.

"Is she okay?" a familiar woman's voice said.

Emily opened her eyes and looked around. She was laying down, so she couldn't see much but the ceiling.

"She's awake." She registered the voice as Reid's.

"Reid…" she mumbled, and sat up. She was still in JJ's house, and JJ, Reid, and Will were standing there.

"How are you, Emily?" Reid asked.

"I'm… I'm okay." She said.

"Good news," JJ said, smiling. "The doctors think Morgan is going to wake up soon!" she said.

Emily smiled. "Can we go see him?" she said, even though she was out of it because she was so tired.

JJ and Reid exchanged glances. "I… I guess so." JJ said.

When they arrived at the hospital, Emily was walking so quickly to Derek's room she was nearly running. When she walked into the room, she slowly walked towards Derek.

"Hey, Derek." She said. "I really wish you would wake up."

He lay there, not moving.

She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Somehow, she thought she felt him squeeze her hand in reply. "Doctor!" she said loudly.

"What is it?" the doctor said, rushing into the room.

"He squeezed my hand." She said, her heart pounding.

"Mam, are you sure?" he said.

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure. He did!" she said.

The doctor examined Morgan for a couple minutes, then smiled. "I think he's going to wake up in the next hour."

Emily smiled. "Really? Thank you for taking care of him." She said, happy.

"You're welcome." He said. "I'll leave you two alone."

"Thank you," she exclaimed.

She grabbed a chair and pulled it up next to him. "Hey, Derek." She said. "Listen, uh, I know you can't hear me, but I hope you wake up soon. I really miss you." She said, a tear falling down her cheek. "I've cried so much in the past twenty-four hours, because I miss having you around. I've pretty much gone crazy, because I miss you so much. Everyone probably thinks I have a mental issue, now. But seriously. I just really wanted to say… I love you. And… I can't lose you. I won't be the same without you." She sighed, wiping the tears from her eyes. She grabbed his hand. "Please," she said. "Wake up."

She gasped when Morgan stirred. He moved his hand and squeezed hers.

"Hotch! JJ! Someone!" she yelled.

JJ rushed into the room. "What?"

"He moved, and squeezed my hand!" she said.

"Are you sure, Emily?"

"Do you think I'm lying?" she said.

Morgan groaned, proving JJ wrong.

"I'm going to go tell Hotch and everyone else." JJ said, slipping out of the room.

Emily turned back to Morgan. "Hey, you awake?"

Morgan mumbled something that Emily didn't understand.

"What?" she said, smiling, "I'm right here."

"Emily…" he whispered.

"Derek, you can rest, you're okay." She said.

"Where am I?" he said quietly.

"The hospital," she said.

"Why… what happened?" he asked.

"How much do you remember?" she asked, shaking.

"The last thing I remember was… a man… with a hood… he hit me on the head. With a gun." He said, looking around.

"Okay… I need to ask you some questions." She said.

"Okay…" he said.

"Who are the people in your life and what is your relation to them?" she asked, hoping he remembered their relationship.

"Emily, seriously? I didn't forget anything, I'm pretty sure. There's the team, and you, my girlfriend." He smiled.

Emily sighed in relief. "Thank god,"

"For what?" he asked.

"That you're okay," she said, fighting tears.

"I just… I don't remember anything since the man took me. Is he dead?" Derek asked, concerned.

"Yeah, Reid shot him. He won't hurt you again." She smiled reassuringly.

"He hurt me before?"

"Yeah, he, um, kicked you in the head a couple times." She said.

"So… that's why my head hurts like hell." He laughed.

"Yeah." She said, squeezing his hand.

"What you said to me… about not being able to lose me. Is that true?" he asked.

Emily's face turned red. "You heard that?"

"Yeah. I did."

"Good, cause it was all true." She smiled.

"I love you." He said.

"I love you too." She grinned.

Hotch, JJ, Rossi, and Reid walked in the door.

"Hey, guys!" Morgan said, smiling.

"Morgan! How are you?" Reid asked.

"I'm okay, kid. I'll live." He said. "Does Garcia know?"

JJ nodded. "I called her, she's coming here. She'll be here tomorrow."

"Thanks." He said.

Emily squeezed his hand. Derek smiled and squeezed it back.

"Now, the doctor said when you get out, no vigorous activity for a couple weeks- no working out, and no… you know what." Rossi joked.

"Thanks, man." Morgan laughed. "But, really. When do I get out of here?"

"Well, if you keep getting better, the doctor said in about a week." Hotch said.

"A week?" he said. "That's too long. I want to be with my girlfriend." He looked at Prentiss.

"Don't worry, I'll be here the whole time." She leaned in and kissed him carefully.

"You guys are so cute!" JJ exclaimed.

Emily glared at her.

"Sorry," she laughed. "But it's true."

"Thanks," Emily laughed, and Derek smiled.

"Well, it's really late, so I think we're going to head home." Hotch said.

"Okay, I'm staying here." Emily said.

"Do you need anything from… wait, Emily, where are you staying? You're not at that hotel, are you?" JJ asked.

"No, I'm actually living with Morgan right now. Until I find a place." She said.

"You don't want to officially live with me?" Morgan asked.

"Uh, yeah, I do!" she said.

"Alright. Well, Emily is living with me. At my house. There should be a key with my clothes…" he said.

"Okay, thanks, Morgan. Emily, do you need anything?" JJ asked.

"Just a change of clothes would be great, thanks." She smiled.

"Alright, I'll be back in a bit. See you lovebirds later." She joked.

"Okay." Emily said.

After everyone had left, Derek sat up.

"No, Derek, you need to rest." Emily said, pushing him back down.

"I want to stay awake so I can spend time with you." He said.

"Okay, but if you want to sleep, just go to sleep. I don't want to be the one keeping you from getting better." She said.

"Okay." He smiled.

"So, what do you want to do?" she said.

"Well, I'd like to do lots of things right now, but I'm kind of in a hospital bed. One of those things is kiss you."

"I'd like that too," she said, leaning forward.

Their lips met, softly but lovingly.

"I want to talk to you about something," Derek said.

"What?" Emily said, leaning back.

"Would you ever… want to get married someday?" he asked.

Emily blushed. "I… if it's the right person, then yeah."

"Am I… anywhere near the right person?" he asked.

Emily smiled. "You are exactly the right person," she said. "In fact, you are more than the right person. You're perfect."

"Thanks," he said.

"Why do you ask?" Emily asked.

"I was… I was just wondering." He said.

"Okay…" Emily laughed.

The door opened, and Emily looked up.

"Hey, guys." JJ came in.

"You're back already?" Emily said.

"Yeah, it's been almost half an hour." JJ said.

"Seriously? Man." She said.

"When you're in love, time goes by really fast." JJ smiled.

Emily and Derek blushed.

"Anyways, Em, I brought your clothes. Here." She handed Emily a small bag.

"Thanks," Emily smiled.

"See you guys tomorrow." JJ said, leaving.

"Bye!" Morgan and Prentiss said together.

"Hey, I think you should get some sleep. It's eleven." Emily said.

"Only eleven?"

"Only?" she asked.

"I usually go to sleep at midnight. Or later." He laughed.

"Well, today isn't usual. You're injured, you need to sleep." She said.

"Wait, Em?" Derek said.

"Yeah?" she said.

"Will you tell me what happened? To me? Why I'm in here?" he asked.

"Derek, that's not such a good idea." She said.

"Why? If I remembered it, I would know what happened anyways." Derek protested.

"Look, Hotch doesn't want me to tell you." Emily said.

"Emily, please," Morgan said.

"Listen, I will, tomorrow. After you get some sleep." She said.

"Thanks," he smiled. "I want you to sleep, too."

"I will." She said.


	21. Chapter 21- I Love You

Emily woke up to the noise of a heart monitor beeping continuously. She looked up immediately, just to make sure Morgan was okay. She smiled when she saw him lying there, sleeping normally, not in a coma anymore. He looked a lot better than he did yesterday, which made Emily happy.

She grinned when Derek opened his eyes and looked at her.

"Morning, beautiful." He smiled.

"Hey," she said, still grinning. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay," he said. "But I'd be better if you told me what happened over the last few days."

Emily stood up and sat on his bed. "I hoped you had forgotten about that."

"Why would I?" he asked.

"I don't know." She said.

"So…"

"The night you remember, I went to the bathroom, you were waiting for me, but I was taking too long and you went to talk to Rossi in another room. I came out of the bathroom, got worried, asked where you were, but nobody knew. I was really tired, so I asked Hotch for directions to the hotel. I started to go, but I was so tired, and this man asked me if I knew where some place was. I started to take out my gun, but he hit me over the head with his. I… when he had me in his shed, I dreamed about you, and he looked you up. He found you, and then I don't know how, but he got you. Meanwhile, I escaped, and told the rest of the team what happened. We got back there a little too late, and you had been kicked in the head at least eight times. You went unconscious, and they brought you to a hospital in Yuba City. But then, you were stable enough to transfer you, since Hotch requested it. You were brought here, back to Quantico, and I was also put in a hospital room." She said.

"Wow. I'm sorry," he said.

"For what?" she said.

"Putting you through so much pain." He frowned.

"As long as you're okay now, I don't care." She said.

"Wait, so what happened after that?"

"Well, I kept freaking out because of what happened to you. They had to drug me a couple times." She laughed, a little embarrassed.

"Nice," he smiled.

"Finally, you woke up. That's it." She said.

"Very nice story." He said.

"Thanks," she laughed.

_One Month Later_

Emily and Derek walked hand and hand through the park. Derek was fully healed, and everything was going well. Derek just had one thing to ask Emily.

"Hey, Em, you wanna go to the fountain in the middle of the park?" he asked.

"Uh, sure. Why, what's there?" she teased.

"Nothing, I just like it there." He said.

They walked to the fountain, still holding hands. Emily was confused when she saw the rest of the team there, holding signs that appeared to be turned around. "Um, Derek, why is the rest of the team here?"

"You'll see." He smiled.

"Okay…" he pulled her towards the fountain.

"Okay, phew. Um, Emily. I need to ask you something." He said.

"Go ahead." She said.

"When we first met, I didn't think we'd ever fall in love. But then, when you 'died', I realized that I loved you. More than a friend. When you came back, I wanted to tell you my feelings about you, but I didn't think you felt the same way. When you left, I regretted not telling you. I was so angry at myself for so long, every night I would lie awake and think about what we could have been. I became madder at myself each day, then when I got the chance to see you, I was so happy. When we kissed that first day, it felt like everything was beginning to fall into place. After we started dating, I knew it couldn't get any better. But now, I think it can. Guys?" he pointed to the team. "Watch this."

JJ flipped her sign around, and it said, "WIIL"

Rossi showed his, which said, "YOU"

Hotch was smiling, surprisingly, and his sign said "MARRY"

Reid smiled, then showed his sign: "ME"

Garcia was smiling the most, it looked like she couldn't contain her excitement. Her sign said "EMILY?"

Emily gasped, then turned to face Morgan. He was on one knee, holding a tiny box, which was open. Emily covered her mouth with surprise when she saw a shining ring inside the box. "Oh my god…" she said.

"Will you marry me, Emily?" he asked, grinning.

"Uh, oh my lord, um, yes! Yes, Derek, I will!" she said, her mouth still hanging open.

Derek took the ring and slid it carefully on her finger. "I love you," he said, then stood up.

They kissed, and the team didn't want to ruin the moment, so they kept silent and just awkwardly looked around.

"I love you too," Emily said after they stopped kissing.

"When can I start planning?" Garcia said to the couple.

Emily turned around, a little shock on her face. "What?"

"The wedding," Garcia laughed. "I get to plan it, right?"

Emily looked at Derek. "Uh, I don't want it to be something big…" she said.

"Oh, no." Garcia walked over to them. "It's going to be the biggest party you've ever been to,"

"No, Garcia, please don't-ˮ Emily started.

"Em, it'll be fine. I won't let her make it too extravagant." Morgan laughed.

"I know," Emily put her hand on his cheek.

Derek pushed her hair behind her ear. "But we should let her plan it…"

She smiled. "I know," she said. "She can."

"Good." He kissed her on the forehead. "Because she will make it very special."

"I know!" she squealed when he poked her stomach.

"I got you!" he yelled.

"You wanna play that way?" she asked, running towards the fountain. She cupped some water in her hands and threw it at him.

"Missed me!" he teased. He went up to the fountain and splashed her.

Emily screamed when she got wet. She went to scoop up more water, but Derek snuck up behind her and pushed her in. When she turned to face him, he was laughing so hard he didn't notice Emily reach up and grab him. Before he knew it, she had pulled him in the fountain with her.

They both came up from under the water, laughing.

"Sorry!" Emily giggled.

"It's okay! I'm fine!" Derek laughed. He stood up and got out of the fountain, then extended his hand to Emily. She grabbed it, and he pulled her up.

"Dammit, I'm soaked!" she groaned.

"We can go to our place and get changed, now that all your stuff has finally arrived." Derek smirked.

"I know, they took long enough," she said. "Oh, we still need to get Sergio over here,"

"Right," he said.

"Let's go, I'm getting cold," she said.

"Okay," he said. "Hey, guys!" he yelled at the rest of the team. "We're going to head home and change! Thanks for the help!"

"You're welcome!" Garcia yelled back, almost everyone in the park staring at them.

"Uh, Derek, everyone's staring." She said.

"I know. Who cares?" he laughed.

"Let's just go," she said, waving to the team as she left with Derek.

"They are so in love," Garcia said, turning around to face the team.

"It's a little obvious. I mean, they're getting married. Wow. They're getting married." JJ realized how big that was.

_Emily and Derek's house_

"I think I'm going to take a shower," Emily said as they walked in the house.

"Wait, Em…" he said.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"You're sure." Derek said.

"What?" she said. "I don't know what you mean."

"You're sure you want to marry me," he said.

Emily glared at him. "Of course I want to marry you! I love you. So much," she said, kissing him. She smiled and turned around.

"Hey," he said as she was heading towards the bathroom, "Careful with that ring." He joked.

"Yeah, Derek, why did you spend so much? I could have done with just a band or something." Emily said.

"Because I love you!" Derek said.

"Okay, I'll be careful." She giggled.


	22. Chapter 22- It's JJ

When Emily got out of the shower, she got dressed in a red medium sleeved shirt and black pants. She dried her hair with a blow-dryer, then straightened it. She was very happy now, since all her stuff had been shipped to her. She shuffled out of the bathroom and into the living room, where Morgan was reading a magazine.

"Whatcha readin?" she asked.

"A magazine," he closed it and put it face down on the coffee table in front of him.

"Oh, that's not, no…" she walked over, picked up the magazine and turned it around.

"Um, Emily-ˮ he started, but wasn't able to finish.

"Why are you looking at a Playboy magazine?" she rolled her eyes, a little pissed.

"Emily, I'm sorry. I should order some new magazines, huh?" he grabbed the magazine from her and stood up.

Emily sat down on the couch. "Yeah. You should," she scowled.

Derek recycled the magazine, then sat down next to Emily. "How can I make up for it?"

"Like this," she said, then kissed his lips with force.

"Okay…" he trailed off, kissing her in return, until he was laying on top of her, still kissing her.

"Wait, Derek…" she laughed.

He sat up and said, "What?"

"I wanna talk to you." Emily said, serious.

"Go for it." Derek said.

"When… when do you wanna get married?" she asked.

"Well, when do you want to?" he said, pushing her hair behind her ear.

"Really soon," she said.

"Like, how soon?" Morgan asked.

"I was thinking… two months?" she replied.

"Man, that works for me!" he said.

"Kay. Good," she smiled.

A knock at the door startled them. Derek got up from the couch and looked through the peephole.

"Who is it?" Emily whispered.

"It's… Hotch?" he said, confused.

"I wonder why he's here…" Emily said.

Derek opened the door. Hotch stood there, a worried look on his face.

"Hotch, what's wrong?" Derek asked, concerned.

Emily stood up and went over to the doorway.

"We need to get to the hospital, now." Hotch said.

"Oh my god! What happened? Is everyone okay?" Emily shrieked.

"It's JJ. She got hit by a car." He said.

Emily put her shoes on, along with Derek, then they headed to the hospital with Hotch. In Hotch's car, Emily asked, "Do we know if it was on purpose?"

"It was a drunk driver. He's in good physical condition, but the police are having their time with him." He replied.

"So, is she okay?" Emily asked.

"She has two broken ribs and a pretty bad concussion. Also, her left arm was broken." Hotch said.

"Does Will know?" Emily said.

"Yeah, he's already at the hospital." He said.

"Damn, how long was I in the shower?" Emily asked.

"About an hour." Derek raised his eyebrows at her.

"In the shower by myself, of course." Emily said quickly.

Hotch's face expression remained the same, even though he was thinking about how crazy they both were. They pulled into the hospital parking lot, then rushed into the hospital.

"Man, I do _not _like this place." Morgan said as they hurried to the front desk.

"Don't worry, Morgan, everyone's gonna be okay." Emily said to him and grabbed his hand lovingly.

"We need to see Jennifer Jareau," Hotch said to the woman at the front desk.

"Sir, are you family?" the woman asked.

Hotch, Morgan and Prentiss showed their badges and the woman nodded.  
"She's in surgery right now, but she will be in room 107 when it's done. You can wait in that floor's waiting room." the woman pointed down the hall to the right. "Down there, up the elevator, then it will be a couple doors down."

"Thank you," Hotch said, then followed the directions from the woman with Prentiss and Morgan.

They walked slowly to the waiting room, everyone's heart pounding. When they got inside the waiting room, they saw Will pacing back and forth across the room. Garcia was there, with Henry on her lap. She had tears in her eyes and she looked as worried as ever. Other than them, the waiting room was empty.

"Hey, guys…" Emily said quietly.

Will looked at her and nodded, Henry waved, because he was totally unaware what was happening, and Garcia barely smiled as she looked up at them.

"Reid and Rossi should be here soon," Garcia said very quietly.

Emily nodded. She felt her heart skip a beat when Derek grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"It's going to be okay," Derek said, looking at her.

"I know," Emily said, a tear running down her cheek.

"I love you," Derek said quietly, so only Emily could hear.

"I love you too," she whispered back.

He held her hand as he walked over to a couple of chairs, sitting down in one of them. "Sit," he urged.

She sat down in the chair next to him, sighing.

"Hey," Derek said. "JJ will be okay. She's a fighter."

"I know," Emily said.

Everyone looked up, except for Will, when Reid walked in.

"Hey, kid." Morgan said.

Reid went and sat down next to Emily. "Hi," he said quietly.

"Hi, Reid." Emily said.

Rossi walked in, and didn't say a word. He went and sat down near Hotch, who had his head in his hands.

"You know, this is how everyone was when you were in the coma." Emily said to Derek.

"Really," he said.

"Yep." She said, and put her head on Morgan's shoulder.

About an hour later, Emily woke up and bit her lip when she realized she had fallen asleep on Derek's shoulder. She looked over at him and said, "Hey."

"Hey, Em." He replied.

Emily started biting her nails, unknowingly.

"Hey, stop it." Derek pulled her hand away from her mouth.

"Sorry, I didn't even realize I was doing it." She said.

"Jennifer Jareau?" a doctor walked in the room with a clipboard.

Everyone stood up, but Will went over to the doctor and said, "I'm her husband."

"Okay. Jennifer is doing well. As you already know, she has two broken ribs and her left arm is broken. Her arm will heal in about 6-8 weeks, and her ribs will heal in about six weeks. I can prescribe some pain medications that she can take, and I'll give you a list of ways that her bones can heal faster." The doctor said.

"Thank you," Will said. "And when can I see her?"

"We've moved her to room 107, and she should wake up in about twenty minutes. You can go see her now." The doctor then turned to everyone else. "When he's done, and you want to visit her, you can go no more than two at a time."

Everyone nodded.

The doctor left, and Will went to go see JJ.

Emily turned to Derek as they sat back down. "I wonder why they only let two go at a time. They let all of us in at once when you woke up."

"Maybe JJ's room is smaller? I don't know." Derek shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe," Emily said.

Half an hour later, Will came back, a tiny smile on his face. "Two others can go now in now. She's doing well."

"Who wants to go?" Garcia said.

"Can we?" Emily said, pointing to herself and Derek.

"Sure," Garcia said.

"Thanks," Emily said, walking out the door with Derek.

They headed towards the room. When they got to the door, Derek opened it and let Emily in first.

"Thanks," she said, going into the room.

They smiled when they saw JJ. She wasn't in the best condition, but they were happy to see her.

"Hey, guys…" JJ said quietly, her voice hoarse.

"Hi!" Emily said.

"How's everyone else?" JJ asked.

"They're okay. Just a little scared, but I think everyone is getting better now. Since you're getting better." Emily said.

"My ribs hurt… and my arm." JJ said, groaning.

"Yeah. The stupid drunk driver…" Derek started, but Emily stopped him.

"Derek…" Emily put her hand on his shoulder.

"I remember what happened." JJ said.

"JJ, it's okay, you can just forget it. You don't need to remember it." Emily said.

"I was driving… by myself. Then… a man… he was swerving on the road. He came towards me, I tried to dodge him, but I was too late and… he hit me. That's the last thing I remember. I went unconscious." JJ sighed.

"JJ, just stop. Just forget everything that happened." Morgan said.

"Morgan, it's kind of hard to forget getting hit by a car. Have you ever gotten injured? I doubt you're forgotten it." JJ said.

"JJ, please-ˮ Emily tried.

"I think we should go now. It was great seeing you." Derek said, walking towards the door.

"Derek!" Emily cried.

"I'll send someone else in." and with that, he left the room.

"JJ, I'm so sorry. I don't know why he's acting like that," Emily said.

"No, it's my fault. I got mad at him first." JJ said, shaking her head.

"JJ, you should get some rest." Emily said.

JJ nodded, but smiled when the door opened and she saw who it was. "Spence!" JJ said.

"Hi, JJ." Reid said.

"How are you, Spence?" JJ asked him.

"I'm okay." He said.

"Um, I should head out, so someone else can visit, okay?" Emily said.

"Okay, thanks for coming in." JJ smiled at her.

"Yeah! Hopefully I'll see you later." Emily smiled as she walked out the door.


	23. Chapter 23- Time Alone

Emily shut the hospital room door behind her and walked to the waiting room. She went to Derek and shook her head. "What was that for? What's up with you?"

Derek shook his head. "I'm sorry, Emily, I'm just really stressed out right now."

"About what? Getting married to me?" Emily said.

"No, Emily, I don't know. I'm sorry. Really." Derek said.

"I know." She said.

Derek stood up and pulled Emily towards him. "How can I… make it up to you?" he said, bringing her closer, so she was pressed up against him.

"Derek." Emily said.

"What?" he asked.

"You know that we're in a hospital waiting room, and everyone is staring at us." Emily said.

"Uh, yeah. I know." He said, looking around. Everyone was staring at them, with awkward looks on their faces. "Sorry," Derek said.

"Yeah, um…" Emily said, but Derek kissed her, so she stopped talking. Emily gently pulled away. "Derek, seriously, there are other people in here. It's not just us."

"I know. I think they should get used to us kissing so often. I mean, we're getting married soon, right?" Derek laughed.

"We are. But don't you think it's kinda… weird? That we're kissing in front of them?" Emily asked.

"Whatever." Derek smiled and gave her arm a quick squeeze.

"You like to squeeze me, don't you?" Emily said.

"Well… yeah." Derek laughed. He went and sat down in a chair, then patted the chair next to him and looked at Emily.

She grinned mischievously, then walked over to him. She stood there for a minute before sitting on his lap. "Hey," she giggled.

"Oh, dear, you are one crazy girl." Derek smiled at her.

"You think I didn't know that." Emily said.

"Hey, I don't know." Derek put his hands up, causing Emily to lose her balance and fall on the ground, right on her butt.

"Ow!" she shrieked.

Morgan stood up and extended his hand out to her. She glared at him, but grabbed it and pulled herself up. "Hey, don't look at me like that was my fault." He said.

"Well, it was. You put your arms up, which made me lose my balance." She said, jokingly rolling her eyes.

"Why don't you sit down in your own chair this time," Derek suggested, gesturing towards a chair behind them. Emily sat down, her hand on her butt in pain.

"You guys okay over there?" Rossi said loudly from across the room.

Morgan laughed, sitting down. "Yeah, we're fine."

"So," Emily said, turning and putting her legs on Morgan's lap.

Derek raised his eyebrows, amused.

"What? What's so funny?" Prentiss asked.

"You know, I really like it when you're in this kind of mood. It's funny." Morgan grinned.

"Really?" Emily said, a surprised look on her face.

"Yeah. It's kinda cute." Derek said.

"Cute?" now Emily was the one raising her eyebrows.

"Mhm." He laughed.

"Okay…" Emily said.

"Whoa, you realize what time it is?" Derek said.

"What?" Emily said.

"It's nine o'clock. At night," Morgan said.

"That's not that late, Derek." Emily laughed.

"I know, but I was hoping that we could… spend some time together? Tonight?" Derek said with pleading eyes.

"Um, I guess so…I just feel bad leaving JJ," Emily said.

"Me too. But I'm sure she'll be fine, we can see her tomorrow." Morgan said.

"Okay. That sounds good." Emily smiled.

Derek got up and went over to Hotch. "We're going to head home, if that's alright."

Hotch nodded. "Go ahead. We're not working, so I can't hold you here."

"Thanks Hotch." Derek said, then turned and walked back to Emily. "We can go."

Emily smiled. "Let's go,"

Derek put his arm around her shoulders and waved at the rest of the team as they walked out.

"Tell JJ we said goodnight!" Emily said to them as they left.

"Let's just go home. I don't want to go anywhere," Derek said as they got in a taxi.

"Works for me," Emily said, then told the taxi driver their address.

When they got home, Emily ran to her closet and changed into some short sweat shorts and a loose t-shirt that said FBI on it. She walked casually out of the closet, and then was stopped by Morgan.

"I gotta change," he said, heading towards his closet.

Emily went into the kitchen and looked around for a snack. She was startled when she felt a familiar touch on her shoulder.

"I wanted to make dinner for us," Derek said.

Emily turned around. "Okay," she said, then went and sat down at the table.

"Want some wine?" Derek asked.

"Emily, who had been running her fingers along the line of the wood on the table, looked up and grinned. "If it's red, then yes. And I don't care about the brand. Just yes. It sounds amazing right now. Although, you remember what happened last time we drank wine together…"

"Oh, I remember all right. That was… that was a really great night." Derek said, smiling at her as he pulled a pot from the cabinet.

Emily smiled. "So, what are you making?"

"I'm going to surprise you." He winked at her.

"Okay, if you insist." Emily laughed. "I think I'm going to go have some girl time,"

"Girl time? With yourself?" he asked.

"Yeah. If you were a girl you'd understand. I'll probably just do my nails or something." She said, standing up.

"Alright. You have fun, and I'll yell at you when this is ready. You know what, don't come out here until I call you. I want to blow your mind." He laughed.

"Okay, whatever, _boss_." She joked, then walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek. "I love you,"

"I love you too." He said, kissing her forehead.

Emily walked back to the bedroom, dragging her feet on the ground. She went and flopped on the bed, feeling lazy. She smiled when she got an idea. _I'll surprise Derek by looking nice, _she thought. She got up from the bed and looked through her closet until she found a red tank top. She put it on and looked at herself in the mirror, then laughed. _I look like a slut, _she thought. She took the top off, then searched through her closet again. She pulled out an olive colored half sleeved button up shirt. She put it on, buttoned it up, then looked in the mirror. _That looks okay, _she smirked. She went into the bathroom and looked around. She wanted to have some fun, so she grabbed a hair tie and put her hair in a French braid. She burst out laughing when she saw herself in the mirror. She looked like a cowgirl or something. She went back in the bedroom and laid down on the bed. She leaned over to Derek's side and smelt it. She closed her eyes and thought of him, and how much she loved him. She opened her eyes and sat up, then went to her closet to get some nail polish. She picked out a nice dark red, which was her favorite, then sat on the bed and painted her nails, fingers and toes.


	24. Chapter 24-Dinner(Mini Chapter)

After letting them dry, she called out to Derek. "Are you almost ready?"

"Almost!" he yelled back.

"Thank god," Emily muttered to herself. She got up and put the nail polish back. She suddenly felt curious, so she went to Derek's closet and looked around through it. She found mostly what she was expecting, lots of workout shorts and tennis shoes. She was surprised to find a small framed picture of her, hidden behind a couple of shirts. She smiled and put it back down. She crept out of the closet and sat back down on the bed. Just when she was getting bored, Derek called her. "Emily! You can come now!"

Emily, a delicious smell filling her nostrils, fast walked out into the kitchen. "It smells delicious!" she exclaimed on her way. When she entered the room, she gasped. It looked like a restaurant. The lights were slightly dimmed, there were rose petals in some places, there was a huge variety of food, and there was wine at the table. "Derek…" she said.

"You like it?" he asked. "You look very… nice… by the way." He said.

"Thanks," she giggled. "What's this all for?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I just wanted this day to be happy, but when JJ got hit by a car, it wasn't so happy anymore. I wanted to make it a great day for you."

"Oh, honey…" she said. "Every day is great if I get to be with you!"

"Come here," he said, pulling out a chair for her.

She walked over, then sat down. "This is all very nice,"

"I hope so," he said. "That's how I wanted it."

"So, what's on the menu?" she asked.

"Well, I made pasta. Yum." He said.

"Yum is right!" she said, her stomach growling.

Derek went over to the counter and brought two plates of salad over. He set one down in front of Emily and one down at his place. When they finished eating that, he brought bread and pasta. They ate, mostly silent, then Derek cleaned up and brought out some Jell-O.

"Aw, Jell-O!" Emily laughed.

They ate Jell-O, laughing the whole time, and when they finished, Derek cleaned everything up. He brought Emily back into the bedroom, where they began to kiss each other. They ended up on the bed, and before they knew it, they were undressing each other.


	25. Chapter 25- April 20th It Is

Emily woke up and stared at the ceiling. She turned over, but frowned when the spot next to her on the bed was empty. She lay there for a few more minutes until finally getting up. "Derek?" she called. She walked into the bathroom and unbraided her hair, then brushed it out and grinned at how wavy it was. She washed her face in the sink, then went to her closet and picked out a black blouse and gray pants. She put them on, then went back to the bathroom and put on some makeup. She walked out to the kitchen, but frowned, seeing no Derek. She went into the living room and sighed when she found him watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. She came up behind him, put her arms his shoulders and pressed her cheek against his.

"Emily! You scared me," he said.

"Sorry. What are you doing?" she asked.

"Watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, obviously." He said.

"I can tell. But why so early in the morning?" she asked.

"Its six-forty am. That's not so early." He said.

"Well, I guess not. We have work today… ugh." She groaned.

"Maybe we won't have to come in because of JJ's condition." He half joked, half wished it was true.

Emily laughed. "I doubt it," she said, sitting down on the couch next to Derek.

"Well, we have to be at work at eight, and I can see you're all ready. I just need to get ready." He said, looking at his clothes. All he was wearing was some sweatpants.

"Yeah, but we have a while. Can't we just spend a little more time together?" Emily pleaded with begging eyes.

"I guess… what do you want to do?" he asked.

"Uh, I don't know. We could plan stuff about our wedding?" Emily asked.

"Okay. Like, when it's going to be?" he asked.

"Yeah. I was thinking, maybe April." She said.

"You want it on a weekend, or during the week? A weekday wedding would kind of be hard to get by Strauss." Derek laughed.

"The weekend. I mean, they would give us time off, right? I don't know how long though." Emily said.

"Okay," Derek said, getting up. He grabbed a planner from a cabinet and looked through it. "There is the sixth, the thirteenth, the twentieth, and the twenty seventh. Any of those sound good to you?"

"How about… I pick a number from a hat?" she said.

"What?" he asked.

"I don't know, just write the four dates on four pieces of paper, then I'll pick one with my eyes closed." She suggested, walking over to Derek.

"That works, I guess." He said, going to get paper.

"Unless, you have any preference?" she asked.

"Um, no, I don't. You know what? I think we should make it on an even number day." He said.

"Uh, why?" Emily asked.

"I don't know. I'm a little OCD." He chuckled.

"Really? Well, just write down six and twenty, and I'll pick one." She said.

He ripped the paper in half, wrote six on one and twenty on the other. Emily closed her eyes, then picked one. She opened her eyes and saw that their wedding was going to be on April twentieth. She smiled at Derek. He leaned in and kissed her, and she welcomed the kiss gratefully. "I don't want to go to work," she said.

"Me neither, but if we don't want to get fired, we should go." He said. "I'm going to go get ready."

"Okay. Love ya." She said.

Derek got up and went into the bedroom. Emily turned to the TV and turned on some Friends. She wasn't really watching it, she was more thinking about her and Derek's wedding. She didn't want it to be a big thing, just get married and then maybe a little party. She didn't even want a huge fancy dress, just something formal enough for a wedding. She smiled when she imagined the team there, having fun, and then her and Morgan… she was startled when Morgan came up behind her and kissed her head. She smiled, happy, then said, "Let's go. It's seven thirty. And I want to be a little early."

"Alright, let's go." He said, then put on his shoes. Emily put on her boots and grabbed a coat, then took Morgan's hand and followed him out the door.

When they arrived at the BAU, they walked in holding hands and were greeted by a very hyper Garcia. "So, Emily, what's your favorite song? Something slow, that like, you two could dance to. It'd be like your first dance after being married. I have some songs in mind, I really need your input for a decision!" she said, then handed Emily a list. "Hey, you look at it too," she said, looking at Derek.

Emily looked at the list. "Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran? I Won't Give Up by Jason Mraz? Garcia, really, can't we just have classical music?"

"No, Emily, you guys need a song. Like, one you can listen to, and then you can remember your wedding!" Garcia said.

"Um, Garcia, All Too Well is a breakup song by Taylor Swift." Emily said, showing Garcia the song on the list.

"Oh, crap! Sorry, I forgot to take that off," she pulled a pen out of her pocket and crossed it off.

"What's A Thousand Years by Christina Perri?" Derek asked.

Garcia smiled. "You guys should listen to it. I think you'll really like it."

"Listen Garcia, just do that one. I've never heard it before and maybe I'll like it." Emily laughed. "Seriously. And I'm not going to listen to it before the wedding. You know I don't really like music that much."

"Yeah, Em, I know. Look, I'll use the song, but are you sure you don't want to check it out first?" Garcia asked.

"Yes, I'm sure." Emily said.

"Derek?" Garcia asked.

"No. I don't like listening to love songs." He said.

"Fine. Whatever." Garcia said, then walked away.

"Wow, she really likes to plan things down to the last detail." Emily said.

"Yeah, she sure does." Derek laughed.

JJ walked over, a 'sorry' look on her face. "Hotch wants you two to meet in the round table room."

Emily groaned. "Now?"

"Sorry, but I gotta listen to the boss." She said.

"But, wait, you're not the communications liaison anymore. Why would he ask you to get us?" Derek asked.

"I don't know, honestly." JJ shook her head, but seemed to be hiding something.

The three of them walked together towards the round table room, JJ in front, with Emily and Derek following her. She opened the door and let her two friends in.

Emily frowned when she saw only Hotch standing in the room, facing them. "Hotch? What's going on?"

"Both of you, please sit." He looked at JJ, then nodded. She quietly slipped out of the room.

"Hotch, what's up?" Morgan asked, clueless.

"Are we in trouble?" Prentiss asked.

"No, but I have something to ask you." He said. "I was thinking, and I came up with this idea. Is it possible for us to have a double wedding?"

"Hotch, that's a great idea!" Emily said.

"I asked Dave, and he said that we could use his mansion, like we used it for JJ's wedding." Hotch said.

Emily smiled. "That's awesome. I really like that. When did you want it?"

"I was thinking a weekend in April…" he said.

"Like April twentieth?" Morgan asked.

"Sounds good," he said.

"Alright, thanks Hotch." Emily said, smiling.

Hotch nodded. "Of course,"

Emily and Derek walked out, and Emily playfully nudged JJ. "You knew!"

"Sorry, he told me not to tell you." JJ said, laughing. "But, what did he say? Are you in trouble?"

"He didn't tell you? We're not in trouble, he just was asking if we wanted to have a double wedding." Emily explained.

"That's a good idea," JJ said.

"Yeah," Emily nodded.

"Hey, I'm going to go to my desk. See you later," Morgan said, kissed Emily on the forehead, and then walked off.

"He's so sweet to you!" JJ noticed.

"Isn't he." Emily said, dreamily looking at him as he walked away.

"So, when is the wedding going to be?" JJ asked.

"April twentieth. We just want to get it out of the way." Emily said, turning back to face JJ.

"That's how Will and I felt. But, hey, enjoy not having kids. It's peaceful. I'm kind of jealous of you…" JJ said.

"I don't know if we'll be having kids anytime soon. Although, we can't wait too long, or else I'll get too old." Emily laughed.

"Yeah, if you want some, you better do it soon!" JJ joked.

"I'm sure we'll talk about it." Emily said.

"Well, anyways, I'm going to get to work. Talk to you later," JJ said.

"Of course, I should too." Emily nodded. "See ya,"


	26. Chapter 26- The Wedding

When work was finally over, Derek went over to Emily's desk and surprised her with a kiss on her head from behind. "Hey,"

"Hi Derek," she said, then turned around met his lips with hers in a short but passionate kiss.

"Thank god we didn't get a case today. I would have died." Derek said.

"Why would you have died?" she asked sarcastically.

"I don't know, I just want to spend time with you." He shrugged.

"You _always _want to spend time with me!" she laughed.

"I know. I do because I love you," he said.

"I love you too. I'm really excited for our wedding." She said.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her towards him, like he had done so many times before. "Me too," he grinned, then kissed her lips.

She kissed him back, this time for longer, then smiled. "Have I ever told you how handsome you are?"

"No," he said, kissing her again, "But you should more often."

"Can we _not _have a make out session at work?" Rossi came up to the couple, who were still kissing each other.

They broke apart awkwardly and looked at Rossi, who had a bored look on his face.

"Sorry, Rossi," Morgan said.

"I'm not entirely a fan of couples expressing their love for each other in public," Rossi said.

"Sorry, Rossi, uh, sorry…" Emily said, blushing.

Rossi raised his eyebrows and walked away.

Emily burst out laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Derek asked.

"That was pretty funny, if you ask me." Emily said, still giggling.

"That was _not _funny." Derek said, frowning.

"Why? Rossi's reaction…" she grinned.

"Emily, I think our whole work was just staring at us. It wasn't just Rossi." Derek said, looking casually to his side.

"Mhm." Emily said, also looking around. "And they're still staring!" she hissed.

"Hey, nothing to see here!" Derek said loudly.

"Derek, don't embarrass me in front of-ˮ she was cut off.

"This is my fiancée, everyone!" Derek lifted up Emily's arm and made her wave. She growled so only he could hear. "We better go," he said, grabbing his bag. He laughed as he and Emily quickly out the door.

When they were in the elevator, alone, Emily glared at Derek. "Really?"

"Sorry, Em, I just had to." He laughed.

"You had to?" she scowled. "Whatever."

"You know I love you." He said.

"Yeah," she said.

"Good," he smiled.

JJ got out of the hospital a week later. Her bones were still healing, but she was doing a lot better.

_April 20_

Emily bit her lip as she pulled the dress out of her closet. It was simple, just how she liked it. It was white, and it went down to her knees. There were no designs on it, just long sleeves and it drooped down on the back. It was pretty loose, when Emily tried it on she felt comfortable. She didn't let anyone help her pick out, she wanted it to be as easy as possible. She laid it out on the bed. Looking around, she shuddered. The house was silent, since Derek was already at Rossi's she was waiting for Garcia and JJ. They were going to help her get ready. She sighed, and literally ran to the door when she heard a knock. She opened the door, and smiled at JJ and Garcia as they walked in.

"Hey, Em!" JJ said.

"Hey, JJ. How's your arm?" Emily asked. JJ's ribs were fully healed, and her arm was almost all better. She didn't need a cast anymore, but she wasn't supposed to use it very often.

"Ugh, its way better, but when I need to pick up Henry I have to rely on Will. But when Will isn't there…" JJ groaned.

"Well, Henry's getting bigger, you shouldn't pick him up anyways." Emily laughed.

"Okay. Emily, you need to get ready." Garcia burst in.

"Yeah, I know. By the way, you two look great!" Emily said. Both of the girls were dressed up, JJ wearing a knee length dark purple dress, and Garcia was wearing a pink and brown knee length dress.

"Thanks babe. Let's get you ready." Garcia said, rushing Emily towards the bedroom.

Emily noticed that Garcia was carrying a big bag. "What's that?"

Garcia grinned. "I got you a surprise!"

Emily paused for a minute. "You didn't…"

"Yes. Sorry, the dress you have is too boring! No offence!" Garcia said, setting the bag on the bed and putting the one Emily laid on the bed back in closet.

"Wait… how did you see my dress? I didn't show it to anyone…" Emily asked, confused.

"Um… well…" Garcia blushed.

"You didn't… you didn't come to our house while we were gone sometime… with your key… did you?" Emily's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Maybe… Sorry, Emily, I had to see what you were gonna wear. I thought it was too plain and boring, so… I got this made for you." She opened the bag and pulled out a huge white thing.

Emily gasped. It was a wedding dress. It was long, it even had a small train. There were silver jewels on the bottom, and more jewels on the chest and stomach. The sleeves were made out of lace, and they went around her shoulders. There were also tiny little red jewels sewn on with the silver jewels. You could only see them if you looked close. The back was beautiful. It had more red jewels, and the shape of all the jewels made a V that went down her back. The veil had the same red jewels, only they were trailing down the whole fabric. Emily's mouth hung open. "This… this is beautiful. You… you had this made?" Emily said, stroking the dress softly.

"Yes. Do you like it?" Garcia asked, smiling with excitement.

"I love it. Thank you. This is _way _better than the one I had picked out." Emily was still caressing the dress.

"I knew you'd love it. Now, we have to get you ready! The guys are waiting on us," Garcia said, lifting up the dress. "Put it on. We'll be right outside." She said, handing Emily the dress, then her and JJ left the room and closed the door.

Emily set the dress carefully on the bed, then slipped her old clothes off. She pulled the dress on, being very gentle, then adjusted it a little when she had gotten it on. When she realized she was shaking, she laughed. Garcia heard her, and said, "Are you okay in there, little bride?"

Emily laughed in embarrassment. "Yeah, I'm fine. You guys can come in now."

Garcia and JJ walked in, and they both gasped when they saw Emily.

"Oh my god, you look amazing!" Garcia squealed.

"Em, you're gorgeous." JJ said, smiling. "I didn't even come close to comparing with you when I got married."

"Shut up, JJ! You looked beautiful!" Emily shrieked.

"I don't know how to thank you, Garcia." Emily said, examining herself in the mirror.

"You don't have to! Just enjoy it," Garcia said. "Oh! I picked out a song, for you and Derek to dance to after you get married. I really hope you'll like it."

"What song?" Emily asked.

"I chose… A Thousand Years by Christina Perri!" Garcia exclaimed.

"Awesome!" Emily said.

"Yeah. Well, we have to do your hair. I've always wanted to do this style, but my hair just doesn't seem to like it. I think yours will, though." Garcia said.

"What style?" Emily asked.

"It's called a waterfall braid. They are so pretty!" Garcia said.

"I've seen those before. Isn't my hair a little short for that?" Emily asked.

"Maybe, a little, but I've seen it done with hair your length." Garcia said.

"Alright. Let's start!" Emily said.

Garcia, JJ, and Emily went into the bathroom, then Garcia looked up a tutorial video on how to do the hairstyle. She successfully did it, then curled the rest of Emily's hair. They were pleased, so Garcia sought out Emily's makeup. She found it, then took a half an hour to do her makeup, without letting Emily look in the mirror. When she was done, Emily turned to the mirror and smiled.

"Thanks, guys. This is going to be the best wedding ever!" Emily said, hugging her friends.

"It was our pleasure!" JJ said.

"Oh! I almost forgot! The shoes!" Garcia put her hand to her mouth. "I'm going to the car. I'll be right back!" and with that, she ran out the front door. She came back a couple minutes later, she brought back a medium sized box. She handed it to Emily, and said, "Open!"

Emily lifted the lid and gasped. "These… these are beautiful." They were white four inch heels. They had the same silver and red jewels, only they were shaped in a small swirl on the outsides of each heel. Emily ran her finger over them. "You guys have made this pretty much the best day of my life."

"Well, today is going to be the best day of your life because you are going to be _Derek Morgan's _wife!" Garcia squealed.

Emily laughed, then nodded. She lifted up her dress, then slipped the shoes on. They fit perfectly. She walked around a bit, then said. "These are amazing! Thank you, guys!"

"Aw, Em, it's nothing!" JJ said.

"Let's get the veil on, then we can head over to Rossi's. Oh, and Emily, one more thing I forgot to mention…" Garcia said.

"_What?_" Emily said, a 'oh no you didn't' look on her face.

"I rented a limo don't hurt me please!" Garcia managed to mash all her words into one sentence.

Emily sighed, then laughed. "It's okay. But, you didn't do anything else too extravagant, right?"

"Well, it depends on your definition of extravagant…" JJ cut in.

Emily shook her head. "Whatever, let's just get out of here."

Garcia took the veil and slid the comb into Emily's hair. "There," she observed her work from a couple feet back. "That looks amazing."

The three girls got into the limo, and the driver took them to Rossi's. Emily's heart was pounding the whole way, and she thought she was shaking, but she couldn't tell because of all the things she was wearing. When the limo pulled up to the mansion, Emily smiled at Garcia and JJ, even though she was terrified. She laughed at herself. She didn't know why she was suddenly scared. She got out of the limo, picking up her dress, then walked with JJ and Garcia to the back yard. "Wait," she said. "Is Derek here? Out back, here?"

"No, he's inside." Rossi said, walking up to the girls. "You look stunning, by the way."

"Thanks," she said, her voice shaking.

"You ready to get married?" Garcia asked Emily.

Emily took a deep breath, then nodded. "Yeah," she said. "Yes, I am."

"Wait!" a different woman's voice exclaimed.

Emily looked behind her. "Mother?" she asked, confused.

"Hi, Emily." Elizabeth Prentiss smiled, walking up to Emily. "You look beautiful."

"What are you doing here?" Emily asked.

"Someone told me you were getting married, and I couldn't miss it." Her mother said.

"Who… who told you?" Emily said.

"I don't want to say. But please, can't we just enjoy tonight?" Elizabeth said.

"Yeah, mother. I'm glad you're here." Emily said.

"Me too," she said.

"Listen, I don't have anyone to walk me down the aisle… can you do that?" Emily asked.

"I'd love to." Emily's mother smiled.

Emily took a deep breath, then walked with Rossi, JJ, Garcia, and her mother towards the start of the aisle. Someone ran inside to get Morgan, and Emily bit her lip as her mother stood by her side.

"I love you, Emily. I know you're happy with him." Her mom said.

"Love you too. I am very happy with him." She said. She froze when she saw him, walking towards the arch at the end of the aisle. Their eyes locked, and in that moment, there was no one else there. But Emily broke the gaze, and looked ahead of her at the arch. When Derek arrived there, she smiled. She wasn't scared anymore. She was excited.

Emily's mother held her arm out, and Emily put arm around it. She stared right into Derek's eyes the whole way down, because his eyes comforted her. When she reached the arch, she wanted to kiss Derek. But she knew she could wait a couple more minutes.

The Officiant said a couple things, which Emily didn't care about. She only remembered saying, "I do," and looking into Derek's eyes. He slid a beautiful ring with red diamonds onto her ring finger, and she slid a gold band onto his.

When they kissed, it felt like the world was spinning around them. Like no one else existed, and nothing else mattered. Emily came back to reality and heard everyone clapping and cheering. She smiled, then looked around at everyone. They were all smiling and giving thumbs up. She smiled even bigger when she saw Beth. She was wearing a white gown, which was strapless and went down to the floor. It had the same white flowers scattered around the waist, and it also had a sash that went across her stomach.

After Hotch and Beth got married after, Emily ran inside and changed into the dress she wore on her first date with Derek. She undid her hair, then put half back in a bun and the other half she left forward, which was curled. She ran back outside and went to Derek, who was talking to JJ and Will. She kissed his cheek.

"Hey, Em." He noticed the dress and grinned. "Nice dress,"

"Thanks," she playfully nudged his ribs.

He kissed her forehead, then put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. "This is my wife!" he exclaimed to JJ and Will, who laughed.

"Guys! Guys! Guys!" Garcia came running over. "You need to do the dance!"

"What?" Emily asked.

"The one where I picked out a song," Garcia said.

"Oh, right." Derek said.

Emily and Derek were lead to the floor by Garcia, who then spoke. "Okay, Emily and Derek are gonna dance now, to this song! I hope you guys like it…"


	27. Chapter 27- A Thousand Years (FINAL)

_**Heart beats fast, colors and promises**_

Emily danced close to Derek. It made her feel safe.

_**How to be brave?**_

She kissed his neck, and he kissed her head. She snuggled closer to him.

_**How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?**_

They danced, slowly, to the song. She looked up at him, and he smiled.

_**But watching you stand alone?**_

_**All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow**_

_**One step closer**_

They danced, like no one else was there. Like no one else had ever existed. Everything but each other was invisible.

_**I have died everyday waiting for you**_

_**Darling don't be afraid I have loved you**_

_**For a thousand years**_

_**I'll love you for a thousand more**_

Derek lifted Emily's chin. He leaned towards her, and kissed her. She was happy, so when he pulled away, she kissed him back.

_**Time stands still**_

_**Beauty in all she is**_

_**I will be brave**_

_**I will not let anything take away**_

_**What's standing in front of me**_

_**Every breath**_

_**Every hour has come to this**_

Emily and Derek danced, just like they did at JJ's wedding. Their time together both flashed inside their heads. When they first met, to Emily leaving the BAU, to her coming back, then their first date, and then they held each other a little tighter when they thought of now.

_**I have died everyday waiting for you**_

_**Darling don't be afraid I have loved you**_

_**For a thousand years**_

_**I'll love you for a thousand more**_

_**And all along I believed I would find you**_

_**Time has brought your heart to me**_

_**I have loved you for a thousand years**_

_**I'll love you for a thousand more**_

They danced, for the rest of the song, not speaking. They were aware that the rest of the team was watching them, and also the team's families too. They smiled, happy to be where they were.

_**One step closer**_

_**One step closer**_

_**I have died everyday waiting for you**_

_**Darling don't be afraid I have loved you**_

_**For a thousand years**_

_**I'll love you for a thousand more**_

Emily hugged Derek, and he hugged her back, pulling her into his arms.

_**And all along I believed I would find you**_

_**Time has brought your heart to me**_

_**I have loved you for a thousand years**_

_**I'll love you for a thousand more**_

They kissed, once more, and looked forward to their future together.


End file.
